


Under Tables And Around Corners

by dragonshost



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Humor, No Tartaros Arc, Present Tense, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-01-04 22:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12177633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonshost/pseuds/dragonshost
Summary: Their relationship starts off rather awkward. It doesn't get much better from there, but they don't seem to mind much.





	1. Under A Table

Lucy was aware that hiding underneath a table to escape the brawl the celebratory ball had become was probably not as sound a decision as she had initially believed. Fairy Tail, after all, had a history of utilizing furniture as makeshift weapons, shields, launch pads and as something to break their fall.

The table was, however, proving to be an excellent barrier against the projectiles, inanimate and otherwise, hurtling around the room and the shards of broken glass and crystal raining down.

She draws her knees up to her ample chest, hugging her legs for warmth. Although her dress is long, and the folds are wrapped around her lower extremities, she's a bit chilly. Her uncomfortable heels sit beside her, cast off long ago. It's not as if anyone is there to see her looking cute in them, so there was rather little point in enduring the blistering straps for a second longer than it took to crawl under the table furthest from the center of the maelstrom.

A long tablecloth obscures her view of the hubbub, and while she can still see, her place of repose is somewhat dim. Listening to the cacophony of sounds, Lucy wonders if any of the participants actually recall what started the half-friendly half-serious inter-Guild scuffle. Poor Yukino-chan was probably mortified by how Sting's apology had escalated.

Disinterest in participation in the brawl had prompted Lucy's hasty retreat from the conflict, or so she kept telling herself. It had absolutely nothing to do with her mounting exhaustion from fighting dragons, watching herself die, and actually dying for a full minute.

Nope.

Well… maybe it had a little to do with it. Much as she was glad to see everyone alive and by all appearances completely fine, she really did need some alone time to process the events of the last few days. Natsu's clinginess had reached new heights after the battle was over, and she honestly just wanted a chance to breathe in peace. She loved and adored her best friend, but there were limits and boundaries to be respected. Such as visiting the restroom – unaccompanied. That would be nice.

A fork clatters to the floor. Startled, Lucy watches as it rolls under the table with her. Shadows beyond the cloth barricade shift, and she recognizes the owner as a person. Lost in thought, she hadn't even noticed another presence. Someone who, if the cake clinging stubbornly to the utensil's tongs is any accurate measure, would prefer to sneak sweets while the rest of the guests are otherwise preoccupied.

It can't possibly belong to Erza, however. The crimson-haired Titania was embroiled in battle at the moment. No matter how much the older woman loved her cake, Lucy knew it was near impossible to corral the warrior when her blood was up or entice her away. Besides, the crumbs were chocolate, with not a hint of strawberry anywhere.

One intake of breath later and the tablecloth is yanked upward by a pale hand. The owner, bending down to repossess the fork, pauses upon seeing the girl beneath the table.

"Hello," she greets, as if being caught lurking underneath furniture were an everyday occurrence.

A crimson eye blinks languidly back at her. "Good evening," he returns, his dulcet voice containing no surprise or any other emotion for that matter other than polite civility. Like her, he seems unfazed by the odd circumstances. Then again, from what little Lucy had thus far observed of the man, unflappable was his default state of being. And for all she knew, this could be a common situation for the brunette.

Unsure what else to do, Lucy grasps the fallen fork and holds it out to him. "Here you go, Cheney-san."

"…Thank you." With gentleness she had not expected, the Dragon Slayer takes the utensil from her.

Though he hasn't asked, Lucy supplies, "I'm hiding."

He stares at her for a second, and then nods – an almost imperceptible gesture made with only the slightest movement of his neck muscles. "Ah."

She doesn't know where it comes from, or what compels her to do so, but she asks, "Would you like to join me?" Mentally kicking herself after the words leave her mouth, because really? Really Lucy? What sane person would crawl under a table with a crazy person they've only just met merely because they returned a dirty fork?

Observing his reaction, it doesn't seem like she's offended him. Not that she could tell if she had. She wasn't very experienced with reading unexpressive faces – her teammates were all very open people, after all (maybe Gray wasn't normally, but to her he was, and Virgo didn't count since she couldn't read the Celestial Spirit anyway).

His reply, when it comes a heartbeat later, is to the point. "I must decline." He abruptly stands, only to misjudge the location of the table's edge and smash his skull into the wooden underside.

Wincing at the noise, Lucy watches him withdraw with exaggerated care. They both studiously ignore the embarrassing scene in silence. The tablecloth falls back into place and Lucy's view of the man is obscured once more.

She lets out a long, quiet sigh, though she's quite certain he's heard it anyway with his keen hearing. That was… awkward. Enlightening in its own way, but… still awkward. The encounter had served to highlight to Lucy the differences between Rogue and Future Rogue more than the similarities. The current era's Rogue Cheney was much quieter and soft-spoken than his future counterpart. In fact, Future Rogue's arrogance, casual cruelty, and delusions of grandeur reminded Lucy more of Sting during the GMG than it did Rogue. Had Future Rogue absorbed part of Sting's personality along with his magic?

A thought to be filed away for later analysis.

Sudden wind ruffles Lucy's hair and the tablecloth flaps violently as a hefty projectile whooshes past her hiding place.

And apparently Rogue has reconsidered her earlier offer of shelter, because his hand has reappeared on the cloth edge.

She wonders if it's creepy that she knows the appendage belongs to him without further clues.

His head pokes underneath the table. "Does your offer still stand?" In sharp contrast to his countenance a mere few minutes ago, he now seems distinctly… scorched.

Oh dear.

Scootching to the side to make a scant few inches more room for the man, she pats the floor next to her in invitation.

He needs no second, and before she knows it he's beside her.

There really isn't enough space under the smallish table for the both of them to maintain any personal boundaries they may have set. They aren't even moving, and their shoulders are practically touching. Somehow, it seems darker under the table than before Rogue joined her.

Oh.

Shadow Dragon Slayer.

Right.

What strikes Lucy as most odd about this already very strange situation is that this time it doesn't feel awkward at all.

After a few minutes pass in comfortable, unassuming silence, Lucy yawns. Hastily, she covers it up. Even in the dark, though, she can feel Rogue's scarlet eyed stare focused on her. Giving up, she leans forward and rests her head against her knees. A shiver wracks her body and she squeezes her eyes shut as if it will help.

She almost jumps out of her skin as a warm, soft weight settles across her shoulders. Lifting her head, she turns in the dark to peer at Rogue's silhouette. A glance down reveals object now resting on her to be his cloak. "Thank you," she whispers.

"You're most welcome, Heartfilia-san." His response is unfailingly polite.

The fact that he knows who she is without her having to introduce herself is of some interest. However, the use of her last name as her identifier irks her. "Lucy."

He seems honestly perplexed by her statement. "Come again?"

"Lucy," the blonde repeats, drawing the warm cloak around her form a little more snugly. "Please call me Lucy."

"…Very well," he acquiesces to the informality (although Lucy thinks he sounds a little reluctant). "Then, from now on, please address me by Rogue."

"Okay." She yawns again in the middle of the word.

"Are you tired?" the Dragon Slayer ventures.

Lucy makes a noise in the back of her throat. "Yeah. I haven't been sleeping well the past couple of days."

"Neither have I."

The admission from her future murderer shocks her into trying to see him through the dimness again. Her breath catches in her throat, and she hopes that the poor lighting and her bleary, sleep-deprived eyes are playing tricks on her because  _holy hell_  is that a  _smile?_  It's not a particularly happy one, more a wry thing full of regretful sympathy. Still, it is a smile.

' _It looks good on him.'_

She quickly buries that thought in a shallow grave.

He shifts somewhat under her intense scrutiny; it's the only outward sign of discomfort he allows himself. It's a futile effort, however. There's no place to move to under the cramped confines of the table. Instead, all he succeeds in doing is brushing his arm against the other mage's.

She sighs and lays her head down on his shoulder, causing him to stiffen in acute, silent alarm. She doesn't know what is prompting her to trust him, and yet she does. Honestly, what could he do to her that his future self hadn't done already?

Actually, no. She wasn't going to think about it. Not when she feels so warm and comfortable for the first time in days. Even the din of her guildmates' ongoing festivities seems distant.

"Do you mind?" she asks, voice slurred with weariness.

Two deep, calming inhales and exhales later, he replies with, "It's fine." It takes him a couple minutes more to actually relax, but by then she's fast asleep.

* * *

Gentle shaking forces her into wakefulness once more, and she groans at the interruption of her rest.

"Lucy-san," a quiet, male voice in her ear says. "The party has ended. We should return to our inns."

She grumbles at him, and he shakes her shoulder again. Screwing up her face to show him her distaste, she raises her head. Blinking does nothing to clear her eyes of sleep gunk, so she reluctantly removes a hand from the secure warmth of Rogue's cloak to rub at them.

While she's distracted, he's already moved to the tablecloth. With one smooth motion, he rises to his feet (clearing the table this time) and pulls the cloth away for her to exit as well.

Only he receives a hiss instead. "Why is it so damn bright?" Lucy mutters, crawling on her hands and knees out from under the table in a fashion that would have had her father foaming at the mouth. She refuses to relinquish the cloak and its warmth as she stumbles to her feet, and Rogue doesn't demand its return.

He also doesn't deign to answer her, admittedly, facetious query. Bowing slightly, he says, "I wish you well, Lucy-san."

"Mmmn," Lucy murmurs back. "You too, Rogue-san." And she means it.

Now that she can see him a little more clearly, her sleep-addled brain tries to convince her that the new, small, thin scar across the bridge of his nose is quite dashing. Oh, and that his eyes are really pretty, like autumn leaves.

With bleary eyes, she watches him pivot away and stride towards his partner and new Guild Master. She almost chokes on her spit, though, as he raises a foot and slams it into the unconscious Sting's stomach.

Strangled sputtering erupts from Sting's mouth and he rolls to his side, coughing. "Fucking bastard," he moans. "Do you have to do that every time?"

So this is normal, then? Maybe she was starting to see a little of Future Rogue in the current. Maybe just a smidge.

"And yet you persist in drinking to excess," Rogue extols; sparing his friend none of the kindness with which he'd treated Lucy.

Shaking her head in amusement, Lucy wanders away from the scene, through the maze of slumbering party guests to locate her own idiots.

* * *

"Luce, you smell weird."

It's all Lucy can do not to order Taurus to drop her best friend. "Don't say my name when you're about to vomit." And honestly, he shouldn't be talking. He absolutely reeked of sake. How could someone with that keen a nose be unable to smell themselves?

Before leaving the party, she had come to the conclusion that no one on her team was allowed to partake in alcohol ever again. Summoning Loke and Taurus to haul the half-conscious male dimwits of her team was one of her better ideas. The two were being carted around like sacks of potatoes – and Natsu wasn't taking the jolting rhythm of Taurus' footsteps well. Motion sickness would always be his greatest weakness, and alcohol was not improving his condition. Gray, thankfully, had passed into complete oblivion some time ago, so he was rather quiet at the moment. Erza was glaring at innocent shrubbery like it had done her great personal harm.

Lucy spares a thought for poor Wendy, being carried by Virgo – the Celestial Spirit having summoned herself. Someone'd spiked the punch at the celebration, the alcohol's scent concealed by the fruity drink Wendy had guzzled.

When Lucy manages to discover the culprit (and she would, mark her words) she was going to strangle them. Celestial Spirit Mages never broke promises, after all.

Taurus adds a skip to his step to prevent further pestering to his Master and a wave of sickness overtakes Natsu, cutting off any further interrogation.

She's glad that he hasn't seemed to notice the cloak (although, judging by the way Loke is smirking at her,  _he_  clearly has).

She makes a mental note to return it to the taciturn Shadow Dragon Slayer at some point in the future. But until then, contrary to Natsu's opinion on the matter, she was keeping it until it lost its nice, mildly musky smell.

* * *

"Rogue, you smell weird."

"Shut up." Rogue's teeth were grinding together in a manner that would alarm most dentists.

"Like a girl."

"I said, shut up."

Drunken Sting had issues when it came to listening to others, but possessed impressive enunciation skills. "Where's your cloak?"

"None of your business."

"Who was the Blondie?"

Rogue almost groans at his friend, his irritation is so great. Sting is singularly persistent, even when sober. Get him drunk and the most Rogue could reasonably hope for was that the blonde man would choose  _not_  to crank the shit out of his asshole dial. Best get it over with and hope the Dragon Slayer is too inebriated to remember much later. "A friend." He hopes. The blonde Fairy had tunneled under his skin while he wasn't paying attention, and he really does want to meet with her again.

"Whoa," Sting mutters, incredulous. "First time meeting you and you're friends already?" It had taken a younger Sting several weeks' worth of pestering before Rogue had even acknowledged his existence. Almost a year before they became partners. It took even longer for friendship beyond semi-patient tolerance to form. The Dragon Slayer was almost jealous of the other blonde.

Rogue blinks at his partner's question. "I've met her before."

After that admission, he refuses to answer any more of Sting's inquires. Luckily, the blonde man has a short attention span and his bed at the inn sang him a siren's song he couldn't possibly ignore, leaving Rogue to his own thoughts.

As he settles into his own bed, the Shadow Dragon Slayer mulls over his interaction with the blonde at the party.

Truth be told, Rogue's glad Lucy doesn't seem to remember the first time they've met. It was long ago, and it wasn't a flattering experience for him.

He would much rather her think of him as he is now; a strong, adult Dragon Slayer and not the lost little twelve year old boy she once helped. Twelve year old Rogue had developed a frankly horrifying crush on the older girl.

One that he… didn't quite seem to be over.

Rogue grabs his pillow and buries his face in it, hoping to smother himself in his slumber.


	2. Around A Corner

If there was one thing growing up her father's daughter had taught Lucy, it was to always go to the negotiating table holding all the cards. The correct concoction of foreknowledge, bribery, and distraction opens all doors and lends control over any situation. It was a strategy that translates as well to mage work as to the political and financial maneuverings her father had engaged in. Lucy is the intelligence gatherer of her team, and she uses it to her advantage both on and off the battlefield.

With the sole exception of removing them from their unpaid semi-tenancy of her apartment, sometimes it is just too easy to finagle her teammates into doing what she wants. All she really needs is the proper incentive. Which leads to her current quandary, for there is one member of her team immune to incentivized manipulation tactics and fully capable of turning her own plans against her – in fact, said teammate would do it for no other reason than to just mess with her.

Natsu is easy to convince to go along with her idea. Dropping a few hints of a home-cooked meal and suggesting that, "If it's really so much of a bother to you, I can always ask Gray," almost always yields results.

Gray often requires no convincing at all, the same with Wendy – this instance being no different. The two are simply content to spend time with Lucy no matter the circumstance (which always makes her feel a little guilty).

Cake and the promise of girl-time is all that's required to get Erza to comply.

Happy is the problem child. Even if she offers him fish, and he accepts the bribe, there is no guarantee he isn't going double-cross her later for kicks.

And a look of deep suspicion is crawling onto his small blue face in a manner that does not bode well for Lucy.

But there is absolutely no way Lucy is ever going to tell the devious fur ball the true reasons behind her desire to visit the next town over.

Instead, she sighs to buy herself a second to come up with an excuse he'll accept. "Fine. You win, Happy."

This only serves to make him more wary. "I do?" he asks, side-eying her and wondering if she really has lost it this time. Lucy never admits defeat, especially not to him. It's a large part of why he enjoys teasing her so much.

"You caught me. I don't just want to see the bazaar."

All trepidation is forgotten with his excitement and interest. "Oh?" he snickers, large eyes crinkling in mischievous glee. Placing a paw to his mouth, he purrs, "You lllllliiiiiike someone! You're going to lure them away to have your wicked way with them!" He doesn't understand why she would keep something like that from him. Happy is perfectly willing to assist Lucy as she exerts her underdeveloped feminine wiles on a hapless victim – all while keeping up a steady stream of commentary, of course.

"Don't hold your breath, cat," Lucy warns, although the remark hits a little too close to the bull's-eye for her liking.

It is true that she wants to separate someone in particular away from everyone else but not for the reason the stupid cat is implying. Her intentions are completely innocent, she swears. She just wants to return Rogue's cloak. Over a week has passed since the party, the lingering scent of musk finally fading from the fabric two days ago. Nightmares stalking her dreams again, she was desperate to return the article of clothing and hopefully, maybe, if Rogue was in a really generous mood, acquire a replacement or at the very least find out what laundry detergent he uses to make it smell so nice.

Even in her head it sounds insane. And mildly creepy.

And thus the cloak-and-dagger nonsense, pun intended. Deception is called for when the potential embarrassment level is this high. Although she'd laundered it earlier this morning, she would have to admit to the man that she'd been sleeping with the damn thing this entire time.

She  _really_  isn't looking forward to that conversation, but once again, desperate. And she doesn't exactly want to be completely alone when she broaches the subject, just in case he does decide to go homicidal maniac on her.

"I heard that Sabertooth has its Guild Headquarters there," Lucy admits to Happy. "I was hoping that while we were there I could go and visit Yukino-chan."

Happy is unconvinced. "Then why do you need to trick everyone into coming with you?"

"Can you imagine what would happen if I tried to leave you guys behind?" she points out. "You remember when I tried to do that solo mission by myself when I first joined the guild?"

He hovers in agitation around her head, leaning his face way too close in accusation. "I still don't see why you can't just say that." Tears well up his eyes, and Lucy is unable to discern whether they're crocodile tears or not. "Do you not trust us, Lushy?"

The pet name saps her willpower. A well-calculated move on his part, no doubt. Lucy gulps; the feline possesses far more observation skills than his Dragon Slayer partner. "Of course I trust you guys! I love Team Natsu more than anything in the world!"

Happy sniffs, calming down enough to alight upon her table again. "You promise?"

"I promise," she reassures him.

Satisfied for the moment, he nods. "Still, why not tell us you want to see Yukino?"

"I want to talk to her about getting the entire Zodiac together and doing something nice for them, since they worked so hard for us in closing the Eclipse Gate. And I want it to be a surprise for them, so please don't tell anyone – especially not Natsu. I don't want him to accidently blab to one of my spirits and spoil the surprise!" She's lying through her teeth, but as the words leave her mouth she resolves to do that as well. Her spirits completely deserve to have a little fun and extra appreciation thrown their way.

He accepts the excuse and grins at her. "Aye, sir!" Happy mock salutes her.

Lucy giggles at her cerulean furred friend. "If you could go get everyone else, I'm just about ready to go."

Before he leaves, Happy places a fuzzy paw on the back of her hand, covering her guild mark. "You know you can always talk to me if something's bothering you, right Lushy?"

Way too perceptive!

She smiles at him, despite her rising panic. "Thanks, Happy. I'm not ready to talk about it just yet, though."

She's not sure why, but she thinks she needs to talk to Rogue before anyone else. Future Rogue is the star of those nightmares causing her difficulties, after all.

There's something a little twisted about how she finds comfort in his presence, she's sure.

Lucy firmly rejects the romantic notion, born of too many trashy novels read late at night, that it's fate. Natsu had already proven that fate was shit. People's decisions were what mattered in life.

"Aye," Happy responds. He moves to the windowsill, but pauses there. "I have one more question, Lucy."

Dreading it already, Lucy waves for him to continue.

"Why bother going to the bazaar at all?"

"I need to do some shopping. Plus, I want to spend some girl-time with Erza and Wendy."

"…You're planning on making Gray and Natsu carry your bags, even though you're tricking them into coming along, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. They owe me with all the reward and rent money I've lost because of them."

"…You're evil."

"Shut it, cat."

"Can I still have that fish bribe? So it doesn't go to waste?"

"Out!"

* * *

She finds out that Happy has double-crossed her after all when half the guild shows up to attend the bazaar.

Flying lazy circles around her head, Happy snickers at the blonde's blatant irritation. "I thought you might need help with more people to distract!" More witnesses to whatever doomed-to-failure seduction attempt she was planning, more like.

The look on his face is priceless when she manages to split everyone up at the town entrance.

* * *

Lucy wonders if the Sabertooth mages she sees lurking around the corner think that they're being subtle.

Because they aren't.

Not even close.

They're just so… noticeable. Yukino-chan and Sting's hair colours alone are eye-catching enough without adding in the fact that Sting was a Guild Master and all three were rather famous in their own right.

The three mages plus red Exceed tiptoe across the cobblestone street lined with vendors. Pausing at the entrance to an alleyway, they all peer around the edge of the buildings at whatever lies beyond. Oblivious to the attention they're attracted from not only the shop keeps but the passersby as well. Like Lucy.

Natsu, on the other hand, is as inattentive as they are – too busy looking at a blue statue with tentacles and muttering under his breath about how it's weird. Like Lucy.

He's going to pay for that comment later, but his blonde friend is far more interested in the other two Dragon Slayers' antics than her pyromaniac's.

Happy alights upon Lucy's shoulder, having noticed the Sabertooth mages as well. "What are they doing?" he asks, munching on a fish.

Lucy flinches away from the bits and pieces of the ichthyoids' innards that the cat's spewing as he speaks. She shoves him off and he tumbles in the air, his wings catching him before he hits the ground. "That was mean, Lushy!" he complains.

"And I'm never getting this out of my hair," she growls back at him, finger-brushing the already fetid, slimy chunks out as best she can.

Sitting down next to her legs, he looks up at her and Lucy is relieved by her forethought in wearing shorts today. "I really don't see what I have to do with that."

The urge to smoosh his fuzzy blue face into the pavement is almost too great to bear. But then she'd get that nasty stuff on her shoe, as well. So she endures.

She returns to watching the Sabertooth mages, only to see the dark edge of Rogue's cloak disappear into the alleyway.

Great. Now she's lost sight of all of them.

It's none of her business, really. Still, she can't help but want to see what they were up to. Something about the group's faces made her uneasy. They seemed rather openly worried about something.

And that was exactly it. All of them had expressions of concern plastered to their faces; their body language radiating high tension.

Rogue's imperturbable self-possession was nowhere in evidence. This is the first facial expression she's seen on him, aside from that pained smile over a week prior when they hid under the table. That expression on anyone else would have given Lucy enough cause for concern, but on Rogue that face was tantamount to the world ending.

Actually, she was pretty sure that he'd taken the actual end of the world last week with far more aplomb.

Deciding to circle around and see what was up for her own gratification (not because she was, say, worried or concerned or anything), she grabs Natsu and drags him down the street. "I heard there's a great ice cream parlor this way! They even have a spicy pepper flavor!" It's not a complete lie; she really did hear about a famous ice cream parlor in the area but she has no idea where it would be.

Natsu follows her with a vague protest about the possibility of the statue being sold to someone else while he's not there.

' _There's little chance of that,_ ' Lucy thinks as she reassures him that they will go back for it.

* * *

The last thing she expected to do when she rounded the street corner was become caught up in a frog catcher's net.

Really, who could have seen that one coming?

Screeching and flailing her arms about is doing little to free her from the entrapping mesh.

"Oh! It's Frosch!" Natsu declares from somewhere behind her.

That name sounds… vaguely familiar to Lucy but she's got other problems at the moment. Once she's finally free, a small green and pink shape darts past her legs.

Now she recognizes the name. The little Exceed with the perpetually surprised look on its face, Rogue's partner.

"Ah!" the frog catcher screams. "Get back here, frog!"

Lucy isn't entirely certain what's going on. She does know that there is no way this guy is getting what he wants as long as she's around though.

As he swings his net at the fleeing creature, she steps back into its path only for it to become lodged around her shoulders again. "Why does this keep happening to me?!"

Next to her, Natsu has reached his limit. "All right!" Flames sprout up around him and Lucy takes it as her cue to vacate the immediate premises. "I dunno what's going on, but I'm fired up!" As he leaps into the fray, swinging fiery punches left and right, he screams, "It's clobbering time!"

When in Rome, right?

"Count me in, too!" she shouts, drawing forth a key to teach these idiots a lesson they won't forget any time soon. No one gets to hit her with a net and escape unscathed. She was going to have bruises from the metal net ring, after all! "Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"

Several deadly volleys of arrows and one Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame later and the street has been leveled.

Fairy Tail's resident urban planning and development department has struck again.

Surveying the wreckage, Lucy sighs at the damage. "What did you do that for?!" she accuses Natsu. "You went and wrecked everything!" Ignoring her own contributions to the destruction because really, she wasn't the one most at fault here.

Her best friend dismisses her concerns. "Don't sweat it. We can just pay for the repairs with our next job's reward."

"What reward?!" she wants to know. "We never have any leftover reward money after a job because you've destroyed everything there, too!"

"You're loud!" Natsu complains, holding his hands over his ears.

That's when she notices that her shopping has also gone up in flames. "Ah!" Lucy wails. Now she's going to have to start all over with less than half the Jewels!

"Huh?" Happy glances around in confusion. "Where's Frosch?"

Sure enough, the Exceed is nowhere to be found, though Lucy catches sight of Sting, Rogue, Yukino, and Lector observing them. "Frosch vanished!" she says, mostly to alert the dazed looking observers. Poor dears just had their first taste of Natsu's completely unnecessary destruction tendencies.

"Where did it go?" Natsu wonders, scratching the back of his head.

The resulting outright panic arising from the statement is almost funny.

As the mages rush to hunt down Rogue's partner once again, Rogue turns slightly toward Lucy.

She waves a little at him, smiling.

He gives her one of his barely-nods, the corners of his eyes tilting upwards just the slightest, before joining his comrades in the pursuit of his diminutive friend.

Lucy mentally files away that expression under the heading, "Gratitude."

* * *

Lucy sighs and lays her head down on the bar, cheek pressed against the cool wood surface. "Mira? Can I get a smoothie?" she begs.

It's been a long day, after all.

Near the end of it, she, Natsu, and Happy had stopped by Sabertooth's Guildhall to check on whether Frosch had made it home safe and sound. No such luck, and the other members of the guild hadn't seen their comrades or Master all day.

Dejection dogged Lucy's steps home. She was still worried about Frosch, and she'd never gotten the opportunity to return Rogue's cloak to him. She'd kept it bundled up tight and safe inside her purse the whole day, too, where it had evaded Natsu's dazzling display of pyrotechnics.

She rubbed her shoulders, bruises from the frog net indeed starting to form there. That frog catcher swung that thing deceptively hard.

When the wide doors behind her open, she pays it no mind, intent on rubbing feeling back into the vicinity of her collarbone. So understandably, she jumps at a voice next to her ear.

"That looks painful."

Lucy wonders if this is going to become a habit between the Shadow Dragon Slayer and her – him scaring the crap out of her with innocuous statements and gestures. Resolving to immunize herself to this as soon as possible because her blood pressure is already dangerously high thanks to Natsu.

As he settles into the barstool next to her with his Exceed firmly in his possession, she smiles at him. "It is smarting, but I'm sure a little ice will fix me right up or a bit of healing from Wendy. Thanks for your concern, though."

He blinks at her, and then places Frosch on the bar countertop next to them. "You have a mark on your face," he points out.

Apparently she'd been lying against the wood grain longer than she'd thought. "Ah. Thanks," she awkwardly replies, rubbing her cheek in an ultimately futile attempt to erase the creases. "It's nice to see you two again. What brings you both to Fairy Tail?"

The green cat lifted its costume-clad arms. "Fro got lost! So Fro tried to get home, but…" It lowered its head and tears gushed down its face. "Fro ended up here, instead."

"I see," Lucy nodded her head, though she's brimming over with curiosity as to how, precisely, Frosch managed to arrive at her guild in the next town over. "Well, how did Rogue-san end up here, too, then? Did he get lost as well?"

Rogue's narrowed eyes were almost missed by Lucy, a gesture characterized by a subtle and minute tightening in the muscles around his eyes most people would have overlooked. While the man tried to gauge the angle the Celestial Mage was after, Lucy was hard put to place the exact emotion Rogue was displaying. Suspicion? Or maybe anger? She wasn't any good at this!

Frosch ceased its sniffling, peering at its partner in confusion. "Did Rogue get lost like Fro?"

Clearly he has decided to go along with her for now, as his face is devoid of expression once more. His crimson gaze flicks back to his partner. "Yes."

The monosyllabic response was enough to reverse Frosch's entire countenance. Brightening, it wipes its eyes.

"You know, Frosch," Lucy ventures, "you did very good for being lost."

It tilts its pink-frog-suit-clad head at her. "Fro did?"

When Rogue mimics the head-tilt down to the exact angle, Lucy nearly bursts into laughter – wondering whether the Dragon Slayer picked it up from the Exceed or if it was the other way around. Controlling herself, she continues, "When you're lost, sometimes it's best to head for a place your loved ones can find you; it doesn't necessarily have to be home." The smile she directs to the Exceed is fond. "I think Fairy Tail is a great place to go when you're lost."

Leaning in conspiratorially, she holds up her hand to block her voice. Fully aware that Rogue can hear her regardless, she whispers, "I once got lost for a whole year. When Natsu finally found me, he brought me here to Fairy Tail." Technically, she knew where she physically was the whole time. Home had been lost to her, though. Once she found it, she'd never left. "Then, during the S-Class Trials, a bunch of us misplaced ourselves for seven years."

Although Frosch's eyes could not get physically wider than they always were, the small creature managed to communicate its shock with far more ease than its Dragon Slayer.

"That's… pretty impressive," Rogue intoned, a glimmer in his eyes, his lips quirking upward for a brief instant.

' _Amusement!'_  Lucy is in shock over the appearance of the emotion.

"Fro thinks so, too!"

Lucy's own lips twitch upward as she restrains a slap-happy grin. Every new expression she identifies fills her with a childlike joy, reminiscent of the time she cracked open a dull stone to discover beautiful crystals within. "Why don't you guys make this your meeting point, then, should you ever get lost again? Do you think you can find your way back here?"

"Fro thinks so!"

She giggled at the Exceed. Frosch was a sweetheart. "I'm sure both of you are hungry, so why don't you flag down Mirajane for us, Frosch?"

"Okay!" it agrees and trundles off down the bar.

When she glances at Rogue, she's struck with much the same feeling as when they were under the table together, and he'd half-smiled at her. This time, though, he isn't looking at her, and the expression on his face isn't rueful in the least.

He's watching Frosch with such tenderness and affection that it floors Lucy, and not just because it's open and easy to read.

It's the exact same smile her mother used to turn towards her.

The indulgent love of a parent for a child.

She's overwhelmed with waves of nostalgia.

Far too soon, he schools his face back into its usual placid façade and she's left feeling empty and mind-numbingly jealous of the Exceed. Not just for the smile, but for all the expressions it can wheedle out of the stoic Shadow Dragon Slayer.

And she's been caught staring. Amusement has put in a repeat performance on his face.

Lucy laughs in nervousness. "You have a nice smile," she blurts before she can stop herself. "You should smile more often; it looks good on you."

Curses; she could have sworn she'd murdered and disposed of that thought already. It's back like a zombie.

All traces of amusement fall from his demeanor as he stares at her with an intensity she can't figure out. "I…" he starts to say.

' _Will not murder Lucy for her impertinence?'_  Lucy thinks, hopeful.

"I shall… try," he finishes, surprising her.

"Oh!" she exclaims, swiftly occupying herself with her purse while she tamps down on her rising blush. Lucy flings another silent curse towards her inability to stop the flood of colour to her cheeks. "I have your cloak." She almost slaps herself as soon as the words leave her mouth because now that she's brought it up, she's going to have to discuss the even more awkward and embarrassing topic of acquiring the cloak he was wearing for her sleeping needs. Shit. Bad move, Lucy. She never thought well when flustered.

' _Spirit King, please drown me in Eridanus before I make an even bigger fool of myself.'_

She thinks she hears a deep throated chuckle in response to her silent plea, but shakes it off as her imagination.

What she doesn't realize is that she has, in fact, said it aloud, and the chuckle originated from, of all people, Rogue.

Dark cloth in hand, she holds it out for Rogue to take. "Here you go."

He takes the bundle from her with the same care he'd displayed with the fork at the party. "Thank you." This time, his reply is smoother.

Lucy feels like they're making progress.

Progress she's about to ruin.

Rogue sets the article of clothing on the bar. "Was this why you came to our town?"

Straight to the heart of the matter. Rogue really wasn't one to mince words or beat around the bush. "Yeah," Lucy admits. "We all went to do some shopping – which, incidentally, Natsu also incinerated, in case you're curious." As punishment, she refused to take him back to the statue he liked – he needed to save his money to pay for the damages. He was still pretty miffed about it.

"I saw that," he admits. "It was… excessive." In so many ways, he's unable to articulate them all. "I appreciate your efforts to help Frosch, though."

Lucy glances down the bar, where Frosch is animatedly waving its stubby arms while conversing with Mirajane. "We stopped by Sabertooth on our way out of town, but you guys weren't there. I was hoping to talk to Yukino-chan, too…" She's totally stalling, she knows, while she tries to figure out a way to broach the subject.

When she swivels back to Rogue, he's stiff and his expression is unreadable once more. "My apologies," he states, standing up from his stool. "I did not realize I was keeping you from speaking with Yukino."

Huh? What?

Snagging his sleeve before he can retreat further, Lucy holds it tight. "Wait!" she cries. "Why are you leaving? I didn't… offend you or anything, did I?" Her voice wanes at the end, moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. She didn't want him to leave just yet.

…She still needs that cloak, for one.

But more than that, she enjoys speaking with him.

Rogue returns to his stool, his eyes affixed on hers. "…You did not offend me," he states.

When he neglects to clarify further, Lucy releases his sleeve (that she'd forgotten she was clutching). "Then, I don't understand why you tried to leave."

A slight angle to the way he holds his head communicates confusion to the girl. "I thought I was keeping you from speaking with Yukino?" he offers.

His thought process completely baffles Lucy.

"Why would you think that?" she asks, receiving only the barest hitch of his shoulder for a response. "Just because I wish to talk to her doesn't mean I don't want to talk to you." Lucy tenses, as she begins to understand what's going on. "Oh. I get it. You thought you were bothering me?"

His hesitation is enough answer.

Apparently he's just as baffled by her as she is by him.

That's… somewhat comforting.

She shakes her head and tucks a loose strand of her hair behind an ear. "You're not a bother. Rogue, I like talking to you."

Her omission of the honorific to his name does not go unnoticed by the man.

"…Very well, Lucy." His reply uplifts her, as he's left off the honorific as well – tacit permission to continue without formalities. "Was there anything else you wished to discuss?" The way he phrases it is more appropriate for a business meeting than a conversation between friends.

Back to her main issue. Might as well get it over with – like leaping into a glacial lake.

"Actually," she begins, reluctant but determined to exercise her courage, "I do have a request." Lucy hesitates, Rogue's expectant silence weighing her conscience down. She fidgets. "It's about your cloak."

"Do you wish to borrow it for longer?" inquires Rogue.

"Erk," she mutters, a strangled noise emanating from the back of her throat. "Not exactly... I was wondering if… maybe…" Her cheeks are getting warmer by the second. "Could I perhaps borrow the cloak you're currently wearing?" At his lack of response, she adds, "The other one doesn't… smell right, anymore."

His eyes widen to a degree that she would have found comical if it weren't at her expense. Then understanding flits across his features. Before she knows it, he's already shrugged out of the garment and is holding it out to her.

Dazed, she takes it. "Just like that?" she asks, disbelieving. "No, wait! I mean, thank you!" Though belated, she remembers to thank him for his generosity, and she clutches the dark fabric close to her. A surreptitious sniff fills her senses with warmth as the musk enters her nostrils.

He watches her with obvious interest. "Did you not think I would give it to you?"

Lucy opens her eyes, which had slid shut without her consent. "Um… yeah. I thought you would refuse," she admits. "It's a little weird, right? To want someone's clothes for the scent?"

Rogue shakes his head, and it's much more than his usual minute gestures. "I'm a Dragon Slayer. Scent is integral to how I perceive the world. Why would I disregard your need for it?"

The way he says it is reassuring to Lucy – not because of his inflection, because there wasn't any. No, he says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world to him. This also has to be the most he's ever spoken to her in one sitting.

"Thanks," she whispers, genuinely touched.

"May I…" He hesitates, before asking, "May I inquire as to why you desire that scent?"

She doesn't pause to contemplate whether or not she should confide in him what she does, for it just feels right. "It keeps the nightmares away."

He doesn't get a chance to respond, for Frosch returns at that moment. "Rogue! Mira-san is getting us food! She has lots of fish! We have to come back lots!"

And just like that, any growing tension is dispelled.

"You know, before today, I had no idea that Sabertooth was so close to Fairy Tail – practically just around the corner. You guys  _should_  come visit us often!" Lucy suggests to Rogue, though she's heavily implying that they had better come visit or else she'd point Natsu in their general direction to watch the fur fly. She's desperately hoping that Rogue is much more talented at reading complex facial expressions than he is at making them.

Either he is, or what he says next is merely a coincidence or more of his polite civility. "You should visit us as well."

She smirks at him, reaching out to Frosch and placing the Exceed in her lap. Frosch purrs at the attention Lucy is giving its ears. "Like you could keep me away from this cutie."

Lucy smiles down at Frosch as the Exceed declares, "Fro thinks so, too!"

Too preoccupied with Frosch, she fails to notice the soft smile Rogue has leveled at the back of her head.

It's gone by the time she looks back at him to ask questions about Sabertooth under Sting's… unexpected leadership.

* * *

It's only after they leave that Lucy realizes that she completely forgot to talk to Yukino about the Celestial Spirits. Smacking herself on the forehead, she sighs in exasperation. She had been way too involved in her discussion with Rogue to even recall that Mira had never brought her the smoothie she'd requested.

She waves at the Sabertooth mages as they disappear around the corner.

"You llllllliiiiike him," a voice purrs above her head.

"You're delusional, cat," Lucy quips back at the blue feline. "I've only spoken to him twice."

Though, somewhere deep inside, she wonders if maybe the little guy has a point.

' _You're delusional, Lucy.'_

…But at least now she has the cloak.


	3. Cornered

Writing letters, Lucy discovers for the first time, is a vastly different experience when you actually plan to mail them.

Correspondence is the preferred method of communication in Fiore, as lacrimas that performed the duty were rather more expensive than most could afford. In fact, only mages and high ranking officials possessed ones for personal use.

This means that Lucy will probably never be able to own one, her meager savings disappearing to fill her teammates' bellies and line her landlady's pocket.

Unfortunately, Lucy was unable to speak with Yukino-chan directly regarding the Zodiac Spirits, as Team Natsu took a job immediately after the incident with Sabertooth and Frosch. When they returned two days later, scorched, and tired and hungry, Lucy couldn't summon the energy to make the two hour walk to their rival guild. Instead, she turned to the postal system to reach Yukino-chan.

Natsu attempted to dissuade her from utilizing the service, claiming that whenever he tried to mail anything it never made it to its destination. She decided to go through with it despite Natsu's advice.

Actually writing a letter proved to be more difficult than she'd anticipated. Heming and hawing for hours over how she would phrase her request, when Lucy finally started to write she found it stilted and strange to read. Soon her trash overflowed with scrapped drafts. She never had this problem when penning letters to her mother.

Which was the key. She encounters no trouble in writing to Yukino-chan when she pretends she's having a one-sided conversation with the Sabertooth girl.

Early the next morning, she sent the letter off, not expecting a reply anytime soon.

When one arrived later that same afternoon, she was shocked.

A little research into the matter uncovered the fact that the postal service was far more reliable and efficient when one actually paid for postage and wrote the destination in a legible script. Go figure. All attempts to explain the concept to Natsu met with dismal failure.

The two Celestial Mages agree to continue their correspondence even after their collaboration for the Zodiac keys on Star Hill.

Lucy is surprised when, three days after Star Hill, a package appears at an unholy hour on her apartment doorstep. The lack of note accompanying it did nothing to conceal the sender's identity, however. Warmth spread throughout Lucy's body as she unfolded the jet cloth from the bundle.

Rogue's timing is impeccable – the last cloak she borrowed has only just lost its scent as well.

It does… bring up some pressing questions in Lucy's mind, however.

Such as how Rogue got her home address. She's hoping he asked Yukino-chan for it, but it's difficult to envision the impassive Dragon Slayer doing that. Though, that explanation is still much preferred compared to the other possibilities her brain is coming up with.

She also wonders just how many cloaks Rogue owns, as this is the third he's lent her and the designs and cuts are varied for each. The first was a plain thing in its practicality, with no need for adornments. A high collar, gold trim, and buttons characterized the second. This third cloak possessed a hood but was otherwise much the same as the first. Seriously, just how many of these things did Rogue own? The man clearly had a style preference.

Last, but far from least, how in Earthland was Lucy going to thank him? And inquire about how he found out her where she lives because if Sorcerer Weekly has printed her address again…

Laundering and sending the other cloak back is a must, but perhaps she should include a thank you letter?

If she thinks writing a letter to Yukino-chan was problematic, she can only imagine the nightmare penning one to Rogue would swiftly become. At least with Yukino-chan she has a lot of common ground; Rogue is still largely a mystery to Lucy. Where she stands precisely in his regard is unclear. She's pretty sure they're more than just casual acquaintances, but are they to the point of being friends?

Which is an uncomfortable situation to contemplate, as she's never had this difficulty before. Even when Gajeel joined Fairy Tail it was easy to determine that they were mostly just going to ignore each other and pretend the torture session didn't happen.

Besides, even if she were to undertake the enormous endeavor that composing a letter to Rogue would inevitably entail, how would she possibly find enough material to fill said letter with?

A thank you note, then? She'd written a million of those things before after parties and such her father had held, but it would be a completely different issue when she was sincere in her gratitude.

Or maybe she is overthinking this and should leave it until a more decent hour when her brain is greater prepared for complimin-cated… convolted… cogniritive… processing… sses?

…Screw it. Too early for this crap. She's going back to bed. Complicated convoluted cognitive processes be damned. Ha! She got it right this time. Take that sleepy brain!

On another note, there is now a best-friend-shaped lump in her bed that hadn't been there ten minutes ago. This is a much more pressing concern that needs to be dealt with before he starts leaving singe marks on her sheets in his sleep. Bed sheets and mattresses, especially, were  _expensive_ , dammit.

Natsu would prove Future Rogue wrong once again.  _Lucy_  is going to end her best friend long before any stinking, shitty flying lizards get the opportunity.

She eyes the scaly scarf that trailing out from under her covers. Wondering if he would even wake up if she were to truss him up in his beloved memento.

Shoving him aside is a wasted effort, as he just flops onto his stomach and plants his face smack dab right in the center of her pillow. Her covers now cocooning the Dragon Slayer, there's no way she's untangling them from him anytime soon. At least the pillow will be cheaper to replace than the rest of it.

' _It's just too fucking early in the morning for this. I hope that pillow smothers you.'_  Uncharitable? Yes. Deserved? …Does that even require a response?

Now she's left with two options. Attempt to remove Natsu from her bed and relinquish his death grip on her covers, or just give up and curl up next to him to salvage some snoozes.

A glance at the clock reveals the time to be 4:17.

' _We're sacrificing the pillow.'_

The second cloak Rogue had lent her is lying on the floor halfway across the room from the bed where she'd dragged it with her zombified lurch-stagger to the door to retrieve the post. Wrapping it around her, she snuggled into its warm folds. Despite the scent being gone, it was still one of the softest pieces of clothing she'd ever felt and she's loathing the inevitable parting of it.

Grabbing the folded third cloak, she sets it down on her bed. Climbing next to Natsu, she presses her back against that of her best furnace, and lays her head upon the cloak.

Warm and comfortable, nose full of musk, she starts to drift off.

Natsu is sure to comment on the cloak situation when they wake up, but… eh. She can deal with the consequences when she wakes up.

* * *

Awake Lucy really hates Sleepy Lucy right now.

Because Natsu is sitting with crossed arms and legs on the bed in front of her, awaiting an explanation. An unnaturally serious expression on his face, he's being patient for now though it won't last if she stalls much longer.

In hindsight, Sleepy Lucy really is the source of all her problems right now. This whole thing wouldn't have even come about if she hadn't fallen asleep on Rogue and stolen his cloak. Sleepy Lucy cares very little for the messes Awake Lucy has to deal with.

She was going to have to have a discussion with that woman.

"Luce." Natsu asserts his presence to his vacant-eyed friend. "Why are you sleeping with Rogue's cloak?" He glances at the one she was using as a pillow. "Two of his cloaks," he amends, refocusing on her.

He's cornered her with that simple accusation. There is no way she is going to fool him by lying and saying the cloaks were hers. Stupid Dragon Slayer nose.

"He… lent them to me," she admits weakly.

Natsu snorts. "I didn't think you'd stolen them, Luce. I asked why you were sleeping with them, not why you had them."

Why oh why did Natsu choose now, of all times, to develop a brain?! That was just not fair.

Fidgeting, her best friend suddenly blurts out, "Why won't you talk to me, Luce? You've been avoiding me for weeks now."

Yeah, to avoid this exact conversation.

"Aren't we…" Gulping, he whispers, "Aren't we partners?"

Sighing, she reaches out to hold his hands. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I didn't intend to be mean about it." She loves the man before her so much it's sheer agony to be the cause of any pain he might be feeling. "I'm just a bit embarrassed by this, is all."

He grips her hands with more gentleness than he usually displays. "Then talk to me, Luce. What's going on with you? Is it something to do with Rogue? 'Cause I'll kick his ass again if you want."

She won't meet his gaze, and instead stares at their hands when she answers, "It's not Rogue, Natsu. He's been nothing but kind to me. It's... The nightmares won't go away, Natsu. The ones with Future Rogue. The ones where he wins. The ones where everyone dies." Tears are now flowing down her cheeks.

Natsu stiffens at her admission, remembering those first days after the battle. Screams had awoken him every night, and he'd spent the majority of them holding the blonde while she sobbed. "You're still having them?" he asks, misery clawing at his throat. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Lucy shakes her head at him, still not meeting his gaze. "After the party, I accidently borrowed the current Rogue's cloak. I fell asleep with it, and I didn't have any nightmares." She raises her head to finally look at her best friend. "None. I slept through the night. But then, a few days later, they came back. They returned because the scent from the cloak faded, I think."

Tilting his head to the side, he regards her curiously. "So that's why he gave you another one when Sabertooth came to visit last week."

He knew? The whole time? Angry, she jerks her hands away from him and wipes her eyes. "You already knew," she accuses.

The Dragon Slayer flinches at her tone. "A bit," he admits, reaching out to her only to let his hand drop to the mattress when she glares at it. "I overheard some of your conversation with him. I wanted you to talk to me about it. I waited for a long time."

Almost a full week, now that she thinks about it. For Natsu, it was very uncharacteristic of him to wait that long for  _anything_. Let alone with that much grace. And he looks so pitiable, and not his smiling self that she adores, that she forgives him.

"It's okay, Natsu." She pats his hand, to show him that it really is. "Thanks for your concern."

He heaves a sigh of relief at her words, and pulls her into a quick hug. Upon releasing her, he grins toothily at her. "You still owe me that home-cooked meal, Luce!"

…Shit. She was hoping he'd forgotten about that. Does she even have anything edible in her fridge? Or had Natsu and Happy cleaned it out again?

Speaking of, where was the little blue menace?

"Where's Happy, Natsu?" she asks, her stomach dropping when Natsu gives her a look of surprise.

"He's right he… where'd he go?" Natsu lifts the comforter, and then the pillows in pursuit of his friend. "Happy? Where you at, buddy?"

…Double-shit. The window is cracked open, a thin stream of cool morning air drifting into the apartment. The Exceed is long gone, no doubt to break this latest development in Lucy's love life to Fairy Tail's resident matchmaker in the hopes of acquiring free fish.

"How long do you think I have until Mirajane accosts me?" Lucy inquires, a sense of dread settling over her.

Natsu shrugs, like it isn't his problem. "Dunno. Think you still have time to make me breakfast?"

Lucy groans at his one-track mind. "Sure, whatever," she agrees, standing up and wandering over to her kitchen.

The Fire Dragon Slayer watches her while she putters about for a while. Then he asks, "Why'd you have to go and say he smells nice, though?"

She freezes, milk overflowing her glass and spilling onto the counter, unnoticed. "Say what?"

"Last week," Natsu pipes up, eying the pale liquid as it descends towards her carpet. She was going to have trouble getting that out. "You told Rogue his old cloak didn't smell right anymore."

Setting the now empty milk carton in the puddle on her countertop, Lucy stares at him. The milk carton doesn't stay where she sets it, and floats along the ledge. "Yeah, his cloak didn't smell right after a week. His laundry detergent must have worn off."

Now Natsu is the one looking at her like she's gone completely nutty. "Rogue doesn't use detergent. No Dragon Slayer does."

He's right, she realizes. Back when she first came to Fairy Tail, she'd made the switch to scentless cleaning detergent herself in an attempt to spare her new partner the watery eyes and rashes he got from getting too close to her clothes.

Since Rogue used the same, his cloaks shouldn't smell at all, unless they were coated in his own scent.

She'd told the Shadow Dragon Slayer that he smelled nice. No, she told him that he smelled  _right_.

"Um…" Her brain is struggling with this new information. "So when I said…"

Natsu blinks at her. "It's a pretty high compliment. How come you never tell me I smell right?"

Because he doesn't take enough baths, but that might not be the best thing to mention right now. "You smell okay, Natsu." For now, give it another week and she might have to summon Aquarius to pressure wash the grunge right off him.

He deflates. "Just okay?" And then, before she can correct herself, he shrugs. "That's fine. You smell pretty weird yourself, I guess." She always smelt like home, which was strange since she and Igneel had totally different scents. In fact, Lucy no longer uses fragrances at all in order to accommodate for her partner's sensitivity. There was no one in the world that smelled quite like Lucy; Natsu had checked.

It always mystifies him that she gets angry whenever he says it. It's a compliment! Didn't she know that weird and awesome meant the same thing? Cana had told him that years ago! Lucy is  _super_  weird.

Grinding her teeth together, Lucy grips the countertop to keep herself from strangling her best friend. Then she yanks her hand away upon discovering her milky nautical disaster. Great, just fantastic. Really.

After Natsu helps her clean up, she makes him that breakfast. It's not like it was just for him, though. She's pretty hungry, too, and intent on avoiding the guild for a while until Mirajane calms down from whatever Happy has filled her baby-crazed skull with.

Something occurs to her as she sits down and Natsu tears into his meal. "Natsu?" she inquires, pointing her fork in his direction. A rumble is her only indication that he is listening, but she accepts it as license to continue. "If you heard the conversation between Rogue and I, what about the other Dragon Slayers…?"

He peers at her, hovering over his food like someone might steal it from him if he isn't careful. Knowing the members of the guild, this is a valid concern most of the time. "Yeah, they heard," he mumbles around a mouth full of grub. Question answered to his satisfaction, he ignores the colour draining from her face and concentrates on the delicious meal once more.

Lovely. This sheds some light on why Gajeel and Laxus have been smirking at her recently. And why Wendy can't seem to talk to her for more than two seconds before uncontrollable stuttering and blushing takes over. Lucy would be sure to tell Wendy that she smells nice, later. The girl could use the ego boost.

She groans and slams her forehead into the table. Natsu jumps at the sudden sound and pauses in his obliteration of the food to check her for a fever. Swatting his hand to the side, she turns her head to regard him with one eye. "I guess this is why Rogue decided to mail the cloak this time, huh?" The Shadow Dragon Slayer is probably too embarrassed over this to face her. Oh Mavis, this explains Rogue's willingness to share the cloak with her. He had been  _flattered_.

Natsu doesn't understand what she's talking about, so he shrugs. Sure the cloak smells like Rogue, but the package doesn't. It smells like Sting.

He pushes all concerns to the side. Breakfast requires his full attention right now.


	4. Tabled Discussion

Every day, just a little bit more than the last, Rogue comes to a greater understanding as to just why Future Rogue murders Sting.

On this particular day, it isn't so much what Sting has done that has Rogue balancing on the rim of his chair, ready to bolt or defend as the situation dictates. Sting is always up to something and occasionally his surprises are beneficial for Sabertooth – the pool, namely (that the exuberant blonde had managed to slip its construction past the rest of the guild would always perplex Rogue).

No; what has Rogue worried is the fact that he  _doesn't yet know_  just what it is that Sting has done. Because he's clearly done something. The bovaristic Guild Master was being uncharacteristically… quiet today. This unconscious behavior pattern of Sting's is usually an indicator that he's waiting to see if Rogue has uncovered his latest act of chicanery. Rogue is loathe to inform the blonde of his tell – because then Rogue would have no forewarning whatsoever that something was about to go horribly, horribly wrong in his life. He needs that minor alert.

The Shadow Dragon Slayer would never forget the day he returned from a solo mission only to find the Guild Hall in flames because apparently Sting had thought it was a fantastic idea to unleash a Holy Nova attack – indoors. To eliminate a spider. Granted, the arachnid had been of equine proportions but there are other methods better suited to dealing with the problem. Also, Rogue remains fairly certain Sting had been the culprit behind the beast's infiltration of the Guild Hall in the first place – although the exact logistics behind how the blonde managed the feat still elude him.

The suspense is killing him; whatever it is Sting has done hadn't manifested itself yet which could only mean that it was either harmless or catastrophic. Experience left Rogue inclined to think it was the latter.

However, Sting's desire for his latest endeavor to remain a mystery did not preclude his imperative to be as obnoxious as possible. The only noticeable difference from his normal behavior was the relative silence in which he attempts to goad Rogue into feats of shocking violence against his person.

Rogue winces as a paper airplane – crafted from only the finest reports yet to be delivered to the Magic Council – crashes into the side of his head with greater force than such a flimsy object should be capable of. This is not Sting's first feat of aerial vehicle engineering that morning, the failed designs littering the floor between Rogue's desk and his.

As he bends to pick up the fallen construct, another sails over the place where his head was a moment ago. Although Rogue on some level appreciates the quiet time Sting's sneakiness affords, he could only remain patient for so long with the blonde. The stoic Dragon Slayer is coming to the end of his rope at breakneck speed and if something isn't done to curb the homicidal feelings inside of him Sting is the one who will end up at the end of a rope.

It chafes that Rogue can't even lob a proper death threat at his partner these days thanks to Future Rogue's antics. In fact, much to Rogue's consternation, Sting often refers to the whole incident as "Rogue's Great Shit Fit."

Unfurling the paper construction and smoothening out the creases reveals the original document to be a report Rogue had written himself the night prior.

The Magic Council is already eying the Sabertooth Guild with wariness – fearing it to be the second coming of Fairy Tail. They were already rather suspicious of Sting's sudden ascent to becoming the Master of the Guild. With Jiemma and Minerva's disappearance combined with Sting's pre-GMG reputation Rogue knows the Council, on some level, suspects foul play. They aren't exactly… wrong, either.

Although the joke is still on the Council. If outright murder were to occur within Sabertooth, it's going to originate from Rogue, with Sting as the intended victim. And there is no need to worry about Sabertooth being a second Fairy Tail – after all, the spider incident had occurred almost two full years prior to Fairy Tail's return. Whereas Fairy Tail's Master Makarov at least attempts to restrain his brats, Sabertooth's Master Sting is the problem and the guild is full of enablers.

It's been a very… stressful month for the Shadow Dragon Slayer and unofficial second-in-command of Sabertooth.

And now he will have to conjure reasons that the Magic Council will accept as to why the documents being turned in have so many crinkles, folds, creases, and mysterious food stains.

He isn't looking forward to that.

It is still more preferable than confronting his other blonde problem.

Lucy Heartfilia.

Rogue has no idea how to proceed in his interactions with the Fairy Tail Mage. She confounds him even more than Sting does. Their last encounter left him feeling… well, he still isn't entirely sure what or how he feels about it. His lack of experience in interacting with people who aren't Sting or Frosch prevents him from drawing any solid conclusions.

He is fairly certain that 'maelstrom' is not, in fact, an actual emotion – though it seems to fit quite well with what he's feeling.

He really ought to pull himself together and dredge up the courage to make the short journey to Fairy Tail to visit. She probably requires a replacement cloak, if her problem with the nightmares persists.

However, he is reluctant to make a colossal embarrassment of himself. And there is little doubt in his mind that he will.

If only the woman hadn't insisted on complimenting him throughout their last exchange.

Rogue understands the mistakenly given flattery in regards to the scent on his cloaks. It is a difficult concept to convey to those who aren't Dragon Slayers so he isn't going to interpret the statement as he would like to.

It was the other, definitely intentional compliments that she'd bestowed upon him that leave him in emotional turmoil.

That he wasn't a bother. That she enjoyed talking to him. The comment about his smile had nearly broken his composure entirely leaving him to…  _stutter_  in front her.

Even her simple, "It's nice to see you two again," he deeply appreciates. For goodness' sake, if he's misconstruing simple pleasantries there really is no hope for him.

Her remark about the cloak scent was bad enough but her sniffing it was just the final nail in his coffin.

That was without taking into consideration the lengths she went to for Frosch's sake. In both reassuring the Exceed about having gotten lost and for assisting Frosch when Rogue could not intervene in his friend's defense.

Rogue also knew an uncomfortable amount about Lucy's life now, thanks to Yukino's long-winded ovations about the other Celestial Mage's good points. Speeches he found himself listening to more often than he cared to tune them out. The man doubts the Fairy Tail Mage is quite aware of just how deep Yukino's case of hero-worship runs.

And Sting is intently watching him from his side of the office, as Rogue has been staring at the single report in front of him for over ten minutes already.

Yukino thankfully interrupts before Sting can begin interrogating his partner. She strides into the room, Frosch perched upon her shoulder. "Sting-sama, Rogue-sama, I brought the post."

"Rogue!" Frosch cries, launching itself into the air and hurtling towards Rogue's desk. It lands amongst the stacks of paperwork, sending them skittering every which way. "Rogue got a package!" it announces, oblivious to the devastation it's wreaked.

The content of the Exceed's pronouncement is unusual enough for Rogue to put his thoughts of woeful, tedious reorganizing aside. "A package?" he questions, glancing at Yukino. "From whom?" He never receives mail of any note – just complaint letters and job requests.

The silver-haired mage is restraining a devious smile, he can tell. "From Lucy-sama!"

Sting, who up until this point was keenly interested in the proceedings, suddenly looks like he would rather be going a second round with Scissor Runner than remain in the room for another moment. "Hey, um, Yukino!" he nervously addresses his guild mate. "I just remembered some… uh… errands I need to run in town! Care to join me?" Sweat is pouring down his face.

She smiles indulgently at him. "Sure," she agrees. "But first, I want to see what Lucy-sama sent Rogue-sama." And then she turns back to Rogue with an expectant look, handing over the parcel to the dumbstruck Shadow Dragon Slayer.

He stares back at the bright, happy expression Yukino has directed at him. She clearly isn't going to go anywhere until he opens the thing. There is no way Rogue is getting out of this.

With a small sigh of defeat, Rogue opens the parcel.

It's his cloak, freshly laundered. Two small notes rest upon the dark fabric; one of which smells like Lucy, and the other, Natsu.

Rogue unfolds Lucy's note and reads it silently.

_**Rogue,** _

_**Thank you for sending me the replacement cloak. Your timing is wonderful; the last just lost its scent. I cleaned the other one for you. However, I would like to know what else I can do to show my gratitude. You're an awesome friend.** _

_**Sincerely,** _

_**Lucy** _

_**P.S.: Whatever Natsu has written, don't take too much to heart. He's just a bit overprotective, sometimes. Or maybe all the time.** _

_**P.P.S: By the way, how did you get my home address?** _

Rogue glances up from the note, spying Sting as the Dragon Slayer sneaks towards the door and freedom. "Sting," he calmly asks, "Where are you going?"

Sting freezes in his tracks, feeling more like prey than the apex predator he normally is. "Um… I have errands, remember?"

His partner grinds his teeth together. "Lucy wrote me a thank you note for sending her a cloak."

"Oh? That's nice of you, and her."

"Yes, except," Rogue fixes his crimson eyes on Sting's cerulean ones, "I did no such thing."

Sting fidgets in place, something Rogue has never seen him do before. "Are you sure? Maybe you just forgot?"

Rogue blinks, unhurried in his pursuit of Sting's confession. "Not a chance."

Calling it quits on the charade, Sting throws his hands up. "Alright! Fine! I admit it; I snuck into your room last night and stole one of your cloaks. Then I mailed it to Blondie." He crosses his arms in a defensive posture, and then continues, "Because you clearly weren't going to do anything about getting her another one, yourself. I heard you guys talking last week – she said it helps with the nightmares. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what those are about. What were you planning on doing, besides? Just ignoring the problem until it goes away?"

That had kind of had been the plan, yes.

The admonishment in Sting's voice, though light, cuts Rogue deep. "Why do you care?" he growls.

"You're my friend," Sting explains with a roll of his eyes. "And Blondie's pretty cool; anyone who can keep up with Natsu-san for a partner is alright in my book. Plus, I kind of owe her for laughing during the Naval Battle so I thought I'd help her out this time." The Dragon Slayer then has the temerity to glare at Rogue. "You should have done this yourself. Grow some balls and talk to the girl. Every Dragon Slayer in the room heard you two, anyway. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Rogue is extremely irritated with his friend but the logic behind Sting's actions isn't something he can willfully ignore. And though his friend had been crude about it, he was right. Rogue should have done something before now.

"Fro thinks so, too!" the little Exceed interjects helpfully.

Sensing Rogue's acquiescence, Sting suggests, "Why don't you write her a reply, and set up a time and place to meet? I'll take it to the post office for you." He glances at Yukino, the Celestial Mage wearing a befuddled expression. "I'll explain what's going on along the way, Yukino. I promise."

She nods at him, and hands a pen and stationary over to Rogue. "Here, Rogue-sama."

"Thank you, Yukino." Rogue eyes the stationary like it might attack him. A quick glance at the note from Lucy does not reveal a plan of action to him. "How do I…?"

Sting throws his arms up into the air again. "Un-fucking-believable," he groans, striding back to his desk and plunking himself down in his chair. "This is gonna take all friggin' afternoon."

"Fro thinks so, too!"

Rogue lets out an almost inaudible growl of frustration – directed solely towards the other Dragon Slayer.

Giggling, Yukino pulls up a chair. "Why don't I help you, Rogue-sama? Lucy-sama is a good friend of mine, as well."

"All. Friggin'. Afternoon," Sting repeats, leaning his chair back dangerously.

The blonde mage doesn't notice the small shadow that knocks the chair legs completely over, as he's too busy squawking while he collapses to the floor, limbs flailing.

* * *

Contrary to Sting's assertion, they finish one very frustrating hour later with over ten discarded drafts and rather bruised egos.

All that was left to tackle was the post scripts.

Opening up Natsu's note, Rogue read it quietly before snorting in amusement.

_**Rogue,** _

_**I hope you realize that Luce is special. Hurt her, and you will never get the opportunity to become Future Rogue.** _

_**Otherwise, good luck.** _

_**Natsu** _

Rogue was rather impressed by the fact Natsu even knew the word ' opportunity', let alone that he'd managed to spell it correctly.

So that was the first post script taken care of.

As for the second…

It begs the question as to how exactly  _Sting_  knew Lucy's home address.

Because he hadn't asked Yukino.

"Sting-sama?" the silver-haired mage ventures. "How did you come by Lucy-sama's home address?"

"Hah?" Sting responds intelligently, looking up from his latest project. While they had been busy with the letter, he'd been bedecking himself in an impressively long paper-clip chain.

How… productive.

He blinks at them for a moment, thinking. "Oh! Blondie's address! That's right…" he trails off, before continuing, "Yeah… funny story about that actually…"

"On second thought," Rogue quickly interrupts, "I don't want to know."

"Are you sure?" Sting asks, peering at his friend quizzically. "It's a pretty good story. Jason –"

"No, thank you," Rogue repeats, firm. He doesn't want to be implicated in whatever skullduggery Sting has perpetrated in order to acquire the information.

"Suit yourself," Sting shrugs. After they scrawl the post scripts, Sting demands, "Give me!" holding out his hand to proofread the letter.

He sighs heavily at it. "You two are real sticks in the mud, aren't you?" Whipping out a pen of his own, he swiftly scribbles something at the bottom. Folding and tucking the note into an envelope, it's out of sight before Rogue can even see what his partner had tacked on. "You coming, Yukino?"

Yukino nods at him. "Sure, Sting-sama." She glances at Rogue and Frosch. "Are the two of you coming as well?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Sting grins at the pair. "Let's get Lector too, and then we'll all go out for ice cream."

Rogue exchanges a glance with the Exceed. "Go ahead," he urges his friend. "Have fun; I have some things I need to do here."

Frosch nods. "Okay, Rogue." It flies over to Yukino and settles on her head this time.

Waiting until they leave, Rogue tucks away the two notes into his cloak for safekeeping. Grabbing the returned one, he holds it up to his nose. Wondering if the still lingering scent of the girl on the cloth would banish his own looming specters.

* * *

"Sting-sama?" Yukino inquires after they've walked some distance from the Guild Hall. "You were going to tell me what's going on between Rogue-sama and Lucy-sama?"

Deep in contemplation, tapping the letter against his cheek, Sting responds with, "Hmm? Oh, right. Well, it seems Blondie has been having nightmares, and Rogue's been lending her his cloaks to help get rid of them. That's pretty much it, really."

She puffs out her cheeks. "Thanks, but I've already gathered that much." Sighing at his noncommittal shrug, she then smiles to herself. "I think Rogue-sama might have a little crush on Lucy-sama."

Sting laughs. "Yeah, well, good for him. He deserves to be happy. Although," he suddenly frowns, "I'm not sure how I feel about it being Blondie."

"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with Lucy-sama!"

"Whoa, calm down, there." He attempts to placate Yukino, the Celestial Mage's hackles rising. "There's nothing wrong with Blondie herself. That's not what has me worried. Makarov told me…" He pauses, eyeing the trio staring at him with eager gazes. "What I'm about to say doesn't get repeated to Rogue, got it? Bad enough that I'm talking to you about it."

Only after he receives their assent does he continue. "Apparently, Future Rogue hurt Blondie pretty badly. Not directly, but mentally."

Yukino understood the damage mental warfare could do, from her own humiliation after her loss at the Grand Magic Games.

Sting rubs the back of his neck. "You were aware that another version of Blondie came back through time, right? Well, apparently Future Rogue murdered her. In front of Blondie. She died in Blondie's arms."

The Celestial Mage stops walking at the revelation, her eyes going wide in horror. She raises a hand to her mouth, afraid she's going to be sick.

After a couple of moments, Sting notices that Yukino's not following him anymore. "Yukino?" He strides up to where she's standing in the middle of the street.

"I thought," she begins, still not really seeing what lies before her. "I thought that Future Lucy just went back to her own time, like the dragons and Future Rogue. I didn't realize…" She chokes, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I didn't realize that she was dead." A deep inhale later, and she's composes herself. Wiping the tears away, she looks up at Sting's concerned face. "I'm fine. Let's keep going."

Frosch pats Yukino's head, and she smiles. "Thanks, Frosch-sama. So, Rogue-sama doesn't know, then?" She starts to walk alongside her companion again. "That doesn't seem fair. He has a right to know."

Sting sighs. "Blondie and Natsu-san begged me not to tell him, because he could be hurt by it. They didn't like Makarov telling me but I'm Rogue's Guild Master so they couldn't do a thing about it. I promised them I wouldn't. I just don't want Rogue to, you know, fall for the girl if she won't be able to see past Future Rogue."

Yukino's giggles startle the White Dragon Slayer. "So in the end, you're just a guy worried that the girl his best friend likes won't like him back."

"I guess so."

They walk in silence for a few minutes. "Sting-sama, I don't think you need to worry. Lucy-sama is a Celestial Mage like me. She doesn't break promises, for her word is her magic. If she says that she forgives him, then she truly does."

Sting snorts at that. "If you say so, Yukino."

"I do. So what did you write on Rogue-sama's reply letter?"

Sting grins at her. "Just giving them a little push in the right direction."

* * *

When the answering letter appears on her apartment doorstep, Lucy is entertaining Natsu again. She still hasn't visited the guild since the debacle from yesterday. Happy is nowhere in evidence yet, which means Mirajane is probably prying him for further details.

She opens up the letter while Natsu raids her fridge.

_**Lucy,** _

_**You are welcome, and I am glad that the replacement cloak reached you with such good timing. However, it was not I who sent it – Sting overheard our conversation last week at Fairy Tail and took it upon himself to remove it from my care and send it to you. Your thanks should be directed towards him for his forethought. I would like to meet up with you next week to perform the next exchange in person. I am unable to leave the guild for extended periods, so perhaps you could come to Sabertooth?** _

_**Your friend,** _

_**Rogue** _

_**P.S.: Please inform Natsu-san that I shall comply with his request.** _

_**P.P.S: Sting acquired your address from Yukino.** _

Somehow, Lucy thinks that last line is a blatant lie but she's not going to pursue it.

At the bottom of the note, something else is scrawled in a very different handwriting.

_**Rogue likes chocolate.** _

_**-Sting** _

She smiles at it. It's given her an idea. "Hey, Natsu. Rogue says he'll do what you asked him."

"Good!" he calls from the depths of her refrigerator.

"We're going grocery shopping!"

"Okay!"

She's going to need supplies, after all.


	5. Storm Corner

Sting and Yukino were far more enthused about Lucy Heartfilia's impending visitation than Rogue himself was. For the past three days the pair had been running pell-mell around the guild, trying to obliterate every speck of dust that dared to intrude upon the austere building's marble floors. Never mind that Lucy had already seen the Guild Hall in a less than tidy condition – hastily discarded clothes strewn about the Hall in the members' eagerness to utilize the pool unveiled the same day mixed with puddles of water and several guild members in very little clothing loitering about. Also, she's a member of the Fairy Tail Guild. Did they not recall the state of her guild's building? Glass from bottles shattered over other guild members' heads, upturned tables, and the splintered remains of other pieces of furniture along with people haphazardly flying through the air as a result of the guild's daily brawls?

The Shadow Dragon Slayer can understand Yukino's jubilance at the opportunity to see her friend, but he can't for the life of him determine just what has Sting so elated. It probably means that the man is up to something… again. But Rogue is too exhausted to bother with unseating the blonde from his throne of smug.

Rogue, conversely, has his forehead pressed against the cool surface of a table. Feeling very ill at the moment, despite Frosch's attempts to comfort him by petting his hair. He would like to think it's due to a stomach virus, but his rational mind won't allow the assumption. It's nerves. Even he can recognize that. He would prefer to be on an eight-hour train ride than in the guild, spending his day listening to Yukino and Sting babble on about the blonde Fairy's visit. He is well aware of the fact that today is the day of their arranged meet up. He's still not sure he's ready to face her.

Also, he doesn't know how they could have possibly  _not_  noticed by now, but there is a typhoon raging outside. Winds howl and keen outside the immense doors, rattling them on their hinges. The only reason they haven't been ripped from their mooring is due entirely to the extensive enchantments anchoring them to the frame.

Rogue despises storms. It isn't as if he's afraid of them, of course; no, he dislikes them for their sheer inconvenience. Merely making his way to the guild from his home was one-half balancing act and one-half test of reflexes. Since Sting as the Guild Master has to be present at Sabertooth, so does Rogue (no telling what the blonde might do without proper supervision).

Storms are also very noisy.

A branch smashes into one of the windows, making a sound like the world was exploding and causing the two Dragon Slayers to nearly jump out of their own skeletons.

The few guild members present seem to find this vastly amusing.

The other reason Rogue would rather be home.

Rogue is fairly certain that Lucy isn't coming today.

Leaves collide with the windows with enough velocity to make the glass shake, and driving rain is hurtling towards Earthland's surface with the force of comets. The sound of the water cascading off the roof echoing around the Guild Hall is close to deafening the Shadow Dragon Slayer for good.

Only an insane idiot would brave the two full hour trek through that bedlam from Fairy Tail to Sabertooth.

The doors slam inwards, crashing into the walls. Gales of wind rush into the Guild Hall, a flood of water sweeping in all manner of debris and completely ruining all of Sting and Yukino's efforts.

As he leaps to his feet to secure the doors, Rogue freezes at the sight before him.

Rogue failed to account for the fact that Fairy Tail is chock full of insane idiots.

And Lucy Heartfilia is one of their most prized members.

He finds himself really hoping that she took the train because if she walked the whole way…

Somewhere behind him, Sting yells, "Dammit, Orga! How many times do I have to – Blondie?!"

The bedraggled blonde looks positively miserable, standing there in the sheeting rain. "Um… Hello?" she offers with a timid wave. "Mind helping me shut the doors?"

The Twin Dragon Slayers rush to assist, pushing the doors shut against the tide of rainwater and flotsam. Their Exceeds watch them from the bar and table with interest.

While they struggle against the wind, Yukino frets over Lucy.

"Really, Yukino, I'm fine," Lucy reassures her as the boys return, soaked to the skin.

"Are you sure?" the other Celestial Mage questions, dabbing at Lucy's face with a handkerchief. A rather futile effort, as Lucy thinks her skin may no longer be watertight after that journey.

Lucy rolls her eyes at the attention. "Really." But it looks like Yukino won't give up or let her go until she delivers the full damage report, so she continues, "My hair is a horrid mess, though. I'm a little bruised. I think I lost some skin, definitely my pride and…" She pauses, looking down at her foot and wiggling her toes experimentally. "…And half a toenail." Judging by the way it feels, maybe more than just half but she's trying to maintain a positive outlook here. "Before you ask, I have no idea how. Otherwise, I'm just peachy."

Sting whistles lowly. "All that just from the train station to here? I'm impressed, Blondie."

She blinks at him. "Actually, I walked from Fairy Tail." Her clothes cling to her like a second skin, so she picks at them for a moment. When she glances back up at them, she inquires, "What?"

Sabertooth's Guild Master is staring at her like she's grown a second head, distinctly Natsu-shaped. "You walked? The whole way?"

"Um… yeah? The trains weren't running." She can't understand why they appear to be having difficulties processing that fact. "It wasn't that hard. I'm pretty good at dodging flying detritus, thanks to my guild and teammates. And I was wearing a raincoat."

Said garment is nowhere in sight.

"I kind of lost it along the way, though. Oh, before I forget," she adds, wringing out her shirt hem, "The bridge over Swift Creek is out."

Yukino finally leaves off the patting as a bad job.

Sting contemplates the other blonde's last statement. "I can send someone out to repair it after the storm passes." It's his duty as Guild Master to make sure the guild did some pro bono work for the benefit of the city housing it. It builds up good will with the city leaders and does wonders for improving Sabertooth's reputation. "So… not to doubt your capabilities or anything, but how exactly did you get across, Blondie?"

Lucy smiles at him. "Fleuve d'etoiles." Like he should know what that is.

It… explains absolutely nothing to the Dragon Slayer, but he nods and responds, "Right."

Rogue heaves a sigh and sits down heavily on a bench, a puddle already forming beneath him. Water dripping from the strands of his hair, he regards Lucy with his crimson eyes.

She shifts in place, fidgeting with her shirt sleeves and uncomfortable under his scarlet stare. Although she's sure her clothes are clinging to her in all the right places, she knows that the dirt smears on her face are unattractive and her hair probably looks like several dozen rats have nested in it. For reasons she's not willing to pursue, she doesn't want to remain in front of him in such disarray.

"You shouldn't have come," he states, ever the blunt one.

Lucy flinches and averts her eyes. Slumping, she says, "I guess you're right. I just… I wanted to keep my promise to visit today. But look at the mess I've made..."

The blonde Dragon Slayer groans at Rogue's ineptitude. "Blondie, it's fine. We can just clean it again. Orga's already ruined it at least three times this morning." He's a little unhappy about all his efforts being ruined, but he can't claim that it wasn't fun going all out in anticipation. "What Rogue was  _trying_  – and failing – to say," Sting pauses to shoot a glare at his partner, "is that we would rather you not come than hurt yourself trying to get here. Because you're our friend, and we care about you."

Perplexed, Rogue stares at them. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"No," Sting replies, rolling his eyes. "It wasn't. Also, get off the furniture, man. You're going to warp the wood. This isn't Fairy Tail, and that shit is expensive to replace."

"Fro thinks so, too!"

"See? Even Frosch agrees with me."

"Frosch agrees with everyone, Sting-kun," Lector informs his Dragon Slayer, landing next to Frosch on the table.

"Fro thinks so, too!"

"We just want you to be safe, Lucy-sama." Yukino smiles at her, ignoring the argument beginning behind her.

"Okay. Thanks, you guys," Lucy replies, shivering a little from her chilled skin and damp clothes. Was it really still summer? She rubs her arms to rid herself of the gooseflesh. "Yukino-chan, is there any place I can go to get changed and maybe dry my hair?"

The silver-haired woman smiles. "We have better than that, Lucy-sama! The locker rooms leading to the pool have showers and baths. Let's get you warmed up." Then she turns and gives her male guild mates a stern look, hands on her hips. "You two should do the same and then clean up this mess."

"Okay, okay," Sting agreed. "We'll do that."

As Yukino led her away, Lucy laughs. "It's pretty cool that Sting listens to what you say."

Red creeps into Yukino's cheeks. "He doesn't - not really. In fact, Rogue-sama once called me Sting-sama's enabler."

"I'm… sure he meant it well?" the blonde woman guesses.

"Sting-sama had just thrown ice cream in Rogue-sama's face after wearing a paper-clip chain around town for several hours… So, no… I don't think he did."

* * *

After several minutes of attempting to tame Lucy's hair to no avail, Lucy informs Yukino to just give up and get in the tub with her. It takes some serious cajoling, but the bath is huge and Yukino really wants to bond with her fellow Celestial Mage so she succumbs and climbs in. She's apprehensive when Lucy summons Cancer to work on their hair (the poor Spirit nearly had a fit at the state of Lucy's golden locks), but the Spirit is a gentleman whose sole focus in on the condition of both mages' hair.

Virgo appears as the pair climb out, and offers them clothes.

"They match!" Yukino exclaims with delight. "Although, I am curious about how you know my size."

"Should I be punished?" the pink-haired Spirit asks, an eager gleam in her eye.

"No, no punishment, Virgo," Lucy says.

The Spirit seems a bit put out by that.

"But can you retrieve the things I left with you?" requests Lucy as she pulls the new outfit on. She takes the bag from her friend when she reappears with it in hand. "Thanks, Virgo! You can go back, now."

Yukino giggles as they exit the locker room. "Your Spirits really do love you, Lucy-sama."

Lucy grins back. "I love them, too! And your Spirits adore you just as much as mine do, Yukino-chan."

As they step back into the guild proper, Lucy spies someone who hadn't been there before. Nearly dropping her burden in excitement, she shouts, "Gray!"

He turns to see her. "Hey, Luce!"

Before she can reach her teammate to give him a friendly hug, she's intercepted by Sting casually stepping into her path. The man curiously sniffs her bag. "What's in the bag, Blondie? You didn't have it before, and it smells delicious."

Trust a Dragon Slayer to notice the second something edible appears.

Rogue is also eyeing the bag from his place at the table. If the man wasn't dry Lucy would have suspected that he'd never moved. His hair is also pulled back into a ponytail.

Lucy isn't sure how she feels about the brunette's change in hairstyle.

On the one hand, she is quite well aware of the fact that he's attractive – most of the men in her life are, so there's no sense in denying it. With the bulk of his hair no longer obscuring them so much, Lucy can make out more of Rogue's facial features. The style makes him even more handsome – aaaand more like Future Rogue. Logical thought progression dictates for her to conclude that Future Rogue, too, is handsome. And there is absolutely  _no way_  she's going there.

"Cookies," she answers Sting, deciding that focusing on the conversation would be a safer choice than analyzing her feelings. "I baked them as a thank you gift for helping out with the cloak situation." It had been a horrible experience, all told. First Natsu had tried to help and had nearly blown up the apartment. Then Lucy realized that she would need the use of the guild's oven until hers could be replaced. Which had entailed confronting Mirajane. Keeping her teammates from consuming all of the baked goods before she was finished had been a chore – especially while fending off Mira's persistent and intrusive questions into Lucy's love life and Happy's constant background you-llllliiiiike-him purrs.

She hopes they like the cookies, because she's never making them again.

"What cloak situation?"

…Oops. Actually, several words other than that one are occurring to her, but she's trying to keep her brain PG lest more curse words slip out in front of Asuka-chan (she's taken to repeating them lately – most of them originally uttered by Lucy during the cooking fiasco).

She'd forgotten Gray was there, and that he isn't aware of the nightmares, scents, and cloaks predicament she's in or Rogue's part in it.

"Cloak situation, Lucy-sama?" Yukino also asks, though she knows full well what's going on.

The little green Exceed sitting beside Rogue on the table tilts its head to the side. "Fro kno – " The rest of the cat's sentence is cut off when the Shadow Dragon Slayer swiftly muffles his partner.

Sting silently applauds Yukino's sneakiness on mere principle, though he decides to come to Lucy's rescue. "You didn't know, Gray-san? Blondie is involved in a clothing exchange thing here at Sabertooth and…"

Lucy winces at Sting's poorly thought excuse.

Gray holds up a hold, suddenly shirtless. "Who do you think I am – Natsu? I ain't the Ash-For-Brains; that isn't going to work on me."

Sighing, Lucy hands the bag to Sting. "Let me talk to Gray and Yukino-chan for a minute. Why don't you pass these out? I made enough for the whole guild, by the way."

Yukino pats her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Lucy-sama. I was just teasing. Sting-sama informed me about what's going on." She smiles kindly at her embarrassed friend. "We'll leave you two to talk, okay?" The Celestial Mage steers Sting away to a polite distance from her friend. Although technically not out of the auditory range of the two Dragon Slayers, Lucy appreciates the pretense of privacy.

"Thanks, Yukino-chan," Lucy mutters. Sitting down at a nearby table, Gray joins her. Just how many times is she going to have to explain this? It's not particularly bad, nor is there any real reason to keep it a secret, but she can't help feeling embarrassed about it. Luckily, Wendy already heard – but she's really not looking forward to a conversation with Erza. The woman likes to slice and dice first and ask questions later when it comes to matters involving any supposed slight to Lucy's honor. And the list of potential slights is extensive.

"Luce? Is something going on?" Gray questions, looking at her curiously.

She sighs again and points at him. "Gray, your clothes."

He glances at himself. His boxers are the only thing he's still wearing. "When did that happen…?" Looking around for his missing clothes, he spots them on the floor some distance away. With a shrug, he turns back to Lucy. "I'll get them later. So what's up?"

As calmly as possible, she explains the situation to him. He doesn't interrupt her, merely watches her small tics carefully for a sign that anything else was amiss. Gray has always been a cool, calm individual (except when it came to Natsu), so Lucy finds it easy to speak with him. To her, he's like how an older brother should be – calm and reliable (Natsu is more the ditzy younger brother she always has to look after, never mind his actual age).

At the end of her speech, all he does is smile at her. "Okay," he says, standing up and offering her a hand. "Why don't we join the others before they eat all the cookies." It's not a request – Gray had been the one she'd had the most trouble keeping out of the kitchen while she baked them.

Snorting at him, she takes his hand and allows him to pull her up from the table bench. "You just want cookies. Didn't you have plenty when I baked them this morning?" In fact, she'd made extra batches for all of Team Natsu.

"But I want more."

Dropping his hand, she walks towards the others, scooping up Gray's clothes as she goes by them. "Why are you here, again? I don't think I caught the reason."

He tenses beside her. "Um… I came to ask Rufus for a rematch?"

"That's… evasive. Are you confusing  _me_  for Natsu, now?" Throwing his clothes at him, they've reached the other three.

"I dunno, Blondie," Sting mutters around a full mouth. "You walked all the way here from Fairy Tail in the middle of the worst storm of the season. Seems like a Natsu-san move to me." He swallows. "By the way, these are delicious. Chocolate with chocolate chips. I think Rogue's died of bliss."

Indeed, the unexpressive Dragon Slayer, despite the lack of facial cues, seems almost… happy. He hands a cookie over to Frosch, who takes the treat with far more apparent relish. More indicative of his good mood to Lucy is that he doesn't bother to correct Sting or protest in any way against the assertion.

"Thanks, Sting." Lucy smiles at the Guild Master. Interestingly, she feels no need to address him as Guild Master Sting, like she does with the other Guild Masters. Since he hasn't corrected her yet, she'll keep calling him just Sting. "I worked pretty hard on those – in spite of interference." She shoots a look at Gray, who flinches under the scrutiny. "Your suggestion was a good one. Although, I would like to ask you to please not compare me to Natsu.  _I've_  never used Fire Dragon's Iron Fist to open a mayonnaise jar."

Sting chokes on a cookie. "Seriously?"

"I'm never getting my security deposit back."

While they share a laugh at her expense, she glowers. "Okay, Gray, your turn to spill. Why are you here? And how come you're dry?"

Gray points to his mouth, full of cookie, and chews in an exaggerated manner.

"Not going to work forever." The gleam in his eye tells her that he's going to try, though.

After a few awkward moments of him just chewing, she crosses her arms and puts on her best Erza-face. Instinctively, he gulps, and then grimaces once he realizes what she just did. "Fine, alright, you win, Lucy." He shakes his head. "Mira asked me to follow you to make sure you made it safe and sound. An I used several Ice Make: Shields to keep me dry."

"You know," Sting says slowly, suspiciously regarding Gray, "I always suspected that you might be a pervert since you walk around half naked all the time, but now that I know you're stalking cute girls…"

"I wasn't stalking her!" Gray protests. "I was looking out for her!" He points at Sting's attire. "And you're not much better! What is the point of a shirt that short?!"

"What's the point of having one if you never wear it?!"

Sting suddenly wonders why this conversation feels familiar to him. As if he's heard it somewhere before.

' _Fiery mouth breather!"_

" _Pervy popsicle!"_

" _Can you guys take this fight somewhere else? Please?!"_

Both arguing men are oblivious to the growing dark aura surrounding Lucy, but Rogue isn't. He picks up Frosch and the cheering Lector and surreptitiously inches a little further away from the blonde. He's witnessed enough Minerva blow-ups to know when to take cover.

"Gray," Lucy catches the Ice Make Mage's attention and smiles sweetly at him.

All colour drains from his face.

"So you're saying that you followed me the whole way here?"

Cautiously, afraid to make any sudden movements, he nods.

"And you didn't offer to shield me from the rain and flying debris?"

He shakes his head, though he knows it seals his fate.

"And when I dodged that branch, only end up in the puddle, what were you doing?"

Gray refuses to answer.

"Well, Gray? I'm waiting."

He mutters under his breath.

"I can't hear you."

"I was laughing," he admits.

"LUCY KICK!"

Sting watches in abject horror as Gray flies across the room to smash into the opposite wall. The Fairy Tail Mage slides down to the ground, groaning, and revealing a deep impression in the marble where he collided with it.

Although already mostly empty, the guild has gone utterly silent.

Sweat slides down Sting's neck as the girl who just sent a man flying with a simple kick whirls to face him.

That same eerie smile on her face, she remarks, "I didn't realize he would leave an indentation, Sting. Sorry about that. You can send the bill to my address – I'll make sure Gray gets it."

She was planning to make the poor bastard pay for the damage, too?!

Now Sting understands completely why she's on the ultra-destructive Team Natsu, the most hazardous team to ever come out of a guild that had a long history of leaving decimation in its wake. Lucy may not go about randomly obliterating the scenery like her companions, but that didn't mean that she wasn't fully capable of doing so if she so pleased. "Okay," is all he can manage in response.

As she walks away to collect Gray and drag him back by his neck (his shirt having somehow disappeared midflight), Yukino smiles fondly at her fellow Celestial Mage. "How did you two like Lucy-sama's finishing move?"

"It's impressive."

Yukino and Sting both stare at their blank-faced friend after his matter-of-fact statement.

"Fro thinks so, too."

"Not as awesome as Sting-kun's," Lector comments. "But yeah, it was pretty cool. For a Fairy."

Rogue rubs the two Exceeds' heads at the pronouncement.

When it becomes clear that no further elucidation is forthcoming any time soon, Sting shakes his head. "I wasn't aware that Blondie had a finishing move." Let alone that it was a physical attack. She didn't look that strong, so how in Earthland did she send Gray soaring so easily?

Gray appears to have recovered enough to return under his own power, Lucy on his heels. He rubs his neck, cold magic soothing the aches the blonde has inflicted.

Lucy trots on past him, and sits down on the same bench as Rogue and Frosch, intent on conversing with the Shadow Dragon Slayer.

"How's your foot feeling?" he asks as soon as she's settled.

Grinning at him, Lucy replies, "It's okay. The nail should grow back in the next week or so." True to her initial fears, the entire thing was gone.

He tilts his head to the side a bit. "Experience?"

"Sadly… yes."

Eyes narrowed, Gray regards them silently. A few seconds later, he plunks himself right in between the pair.

At his smirk, Lucy nearly growls.

Gray is like an older brother to her – calm, reliable…

And overprotective.

It's going to be a long afternoon.


	6. Around The Table

Theoretically, Gray is perfectly fine with the cloak situation as Lucy had described it to him. If it was stopping her from having nightmares, he really has no recourse but to accept whatever his little sister discovered comfort in – short of drugs and alcohol and casual sex with strangers and extreme sports and… maybe he should stop there. It hurts that she hadn't come to him, though. Actually, it feels like someone took one of Gajeel's iron spikes and is using Erza's giant hammer to pound it into his heart. But he digresses.

His acceptance becomes much less theoretical the instant Lucy and Rogue start interacting with each other. There's something about the sight that rankles. Although he'd never gotten the opportunity to meet or even catch a glimpse of the Future Rogue, Gray's heard enough in the silence and evasions within Natsu, Lucy, Loke, Wendy, and even the Exceeds' explanations of the events that had transpired inside the palace. Piecing together what was left unsaid paints a crude yet serviceable picture of what went down while the rest of Fairy Tail was celebrating their victory over Sabertooth. Gray's stomach churns still at the suffering endured that night, and at the loss of his other sister, Ultear. He wishes he could have properly introduced her to Lyon. The Lamia Scale mage's face upon discovering family after all this time would have been priceless. Both Gray and Lyon had been robbed of their family once again.

Gray can't help but blame Rogue somewhat for that missed opportunity and for Lucy's sorrow. Unlike Natsu, Gray isn't able to process and move past things like that so easily. It's the only thing Gray will ever acknowledge that the Flame Brain has him beat at. The current era's Rogue has done nothing wrong. Yet. That doesn't mean someone shouldn't keep an eye on the latent homicidal maniac, though.

By that logic, it's only right that Rogue assist Lucy now – as he was the source of her pain then and her current nightmares.

Although, Gray is beginning to wonder if the cloak was really her only reason for making the trek to Sabertooth. He'd watched over her the entire way. Not knowing at the time why she was stomping about in the downpour and howling winds, he had tried to call out to her several times only for his words to be ripped away by the storm. Then he'd stopped trying to gain her attention, and stuck to observing her progress. Intending to stop her if it became too dangerous.

She had proceeded to Sabertooth with a single-minded determination that Gray couldn't help feeling awed by. Lucy's lips had moved the entire time – no doubt muttering obscenities at the storm – a gleam in her eyes that he couldn't place. Her attention was so riveted on her destination that she hadn't even noticed his presence. He thought she'd stop at the Swift Creek Bridge, but… no. In horror, he'd watched as she made her way to the other side – using only her whip!

Lucy is strong. There was no need to prove to the world that she was – Gray can see it already, so can Erza and Wendy. Hell, even Natsu, dense motherfucker that he is, can see it. If she'd possessed the correct magic, Gray knew that Lucy would have obliterated the storm for its audacity in getting in her way.

The girl had taken serious risks to get here. Risks that Gray knew she was loathe to undergo in normal circumstances. So it made no sense to him that she would throw all of her caution to those screaming winds and the driving rain for a mere garment.

He saw the way she lit up when she spotted Rogue over Sting's shoulder upon her entrance with Yukino. Setting off some serious overprotective-brother-alarms in his head. Why would she look so happy to see the man that would murder her? Shouldn't she be afraid of him?

Her explanation sheds some light on the matter. He's helping her out and she's grateful. Lucy forgives far too easily and possesses too large a heart for her own good, just like her idiotic flame-brained partner. Gray can live with that.

Or not.

He watches them talk for a few seconds, carefully observing the way Lucy is looking at the Shadow Dragon Slayer. And he's struck by the notion that it isn't mere gratefulness that goaded her into that perilous journey.

So he plunks himself between them like a rude bastard because at this point he really doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. This bordering-on-lovey-dovey atmosphere needs to dissipate  _now_. Lucy was not allowed to fall for Rogue.

Not for a man with a proven ability and willingness to hurt her.

Gray would not lose another sister.

Normally Gray doesn't subscribe to drivel like fate, but this is Lucy. Even Gray recognizes that he loses all his capacity for rational thought when it comes to her safety. He doesn't care if Rogue has changed like the other members of Sabertooth, and that the possibility of him becoming Future Rogue has likely disappeared entirely. Lucy would be protected against all potential threats – even if she was fully capable of protecting herself.

And if she thought  _he_  was going overboard…

Just wait until Erza caught wind of this. Or worse – Laxus. The Dragon Slayer had developed an odd attachment to his fellow blonde after the whole Raven Tail incident during the Grand Magic Games. He often joined in Team Natsu's favorite sport of walloping any male that came too close to the Celestial Mage. (Much to Lucy's frustration because she was just trying to have an innocent conversation or ask for directions, people!)

So really, Gray's doing them all a favor by interfering before it gets to that point.

Although his resolve is starting to waver because  _holy shit_  Lucy is even scarier than the cake-enamored redhead when she smiles like that. That should not be possible. But there it is. Aimed directly at him. For the second time in the past ten minutes. His ribs are still smarting and he thinks it may take a couple of days for his spine to realign into its pre-Lucy-Kick state.

Oh, that's right. The smile isn't an Erza move.

Lucy picked it up from a certain white-haired demon woman who tended the bar.

That's why it's so scary.

Which isn't helping him at all.

"Gray?" she asks sweetly, tilting her head to the side at an angle eerily reminiscent of Mirajane.

Endure. He will not be – gulp – intimidated. He won't.

Oh who is he kidding? He's screwed and he knows it.

Rescue comes at the opportune moment from an unexpected source.

"Gray-san!"

At the greeting, Gray shifts his attention away from Lucy (his instincts screaming that it's a bad move) and regards the small creature on the table in front of him. "Frosch, right?" he says, smiling at the Exceed.

Beside him, he can sense Lucy's dark aura fading. Score!

The green, cosplaying cat waves a paw at the Ice Make Mage. "Fro wanted to thank Gray-san for helping Fro when Fro was lost!"

His icy heart melts. "No problem, Frosch. And you can just call me Gray." Frosch really couldn't be blamed for any transgressions its Dragon Slayer may or may not commit, so Gray is able to treat the Exceed as he normally would. It helped that Frosch is adorable – not bossy, muscle-bound, or a little troll like certain other Exceeds Gray is familiar with.

Frosch nods. "Okay!"

Rogue bows from where he's seated. "I would like to thank you as well, Gray-san, for assisting my friend."

Guilt stabs through the Fairy Tail Mage at the simple expression of appreciation. Gray hasn't yet thanked the other man for helping Lucy out with her problem; instead, he'd felt vindicated by the action rather than truly grateful for the selflessness the Sabertooth Mage has in fact been displaying the entire time.

Maybe Gray really is being an asshole here. Would pre-GMG Rogue or Future Rogue have been able to express such heartfelt gratitude? Somehow he doubts it. This person before him might really be different. He can suddenly see what Natsu and Lucy must have in the other man. Someone who deserved a chance at redemption.

Besides, anyone with a partner like Frosch couldn't possibly be  _all_  bad.

"Like I said," Gray feels a smile tugging at his lips, "it wasn't any skin off my back. I was glad to help." He pauses, throwing a glance at Lucy before returning to meet Rogue's gaze. "Call me Gray.  _San_  makes me twitch. And before I forget, thank you for helping  _my_  friend."

The Dragon Slayer nods. "It is no trouble. She is my friend as well."

Gray wonders when exactly that had happened. Lucy will have to be pressed for details later. The Ice Mage needs them if he's going to allow Rogue a chance to prove himself.

"Boys. Honestly." Lucy shakes her head in exasperation at the idiotic nature of the opposite sex. Seriously. One minute Gray is ready to fight to the death and the next he's making nice with his opponent – who probably never even detected Gray's animosity in the first place.

An incorrect assumption on her part, actually. Rogue, as a Dragon Slayer, is quite sensitive to hostility being directed towards him. He just can't understand the source of the Ice Mage's sudden ire. But it's gone as quickly as it appears, so the Shadow Dragon Slayer isn't going to concern himself overmuch with it. Whatever it was had managed to work itself out.

Lucy scoops Frosch into her arms and hugs the Exceed close. "You make sure to stick by Rogue, okay Frosch?"

The Exceed nods, determination set in its diminutive frame. "Fro will make sure Rogue never gets lost again."

Only with great effort does Lucy manage to restrain her laughter. "Yes, we can't have that," she replies to the Exceed's delight.

And to Sting's. The blonde man shows none of the restraint of the other blonde and laughs outright at his best friend.

While Rogue glares at his partner's mirth, he does wonder if Frosch was not, in fact, speaking of when he claimed to be lost. Perhaps the Exceed was instead referring to Levia's revelation of the Future Rogue to the Dragon Slayer, or when he had been taken over by his own shadow during his battle with Gajeel. So long as he has Frosch, he realizes, he will never truly be lost. The same could be said of Sting, Lector, and Yukino. And Lucy Heartfilia. So long as they remained in his life, he would never lose himself again.

Watching Lucy with the Exceed, Gray also contemplates whether or not he'd jumped to conclusions about Lucy's relationship with the Shadow Dragon Slayer. She's hugging the cat like her life depends upon it, smothering the creature with affection it clearly returns. Maybe, instead of Rogue, she braved the storm to visit the Exceed? Or maybe all of the Sabertooth Mages, together. It was, in hindsight, a very Lucy thing to do.

Frosch raises its head to look at the Celestial Mage's face. It doesn't really understand why, but it likes Lucy just as much as Yukino – which is to say, a lot. "Fro also wants to thank the Water Lady Fairy for helping Fro!"

"Ah," Gray says, "You mean Juvia. I can pass along the message once I get back to the guild, if you like?"

Sting's guffaws abruptly cut off and he stares at Gray in confusion. "What are you talking about? Frosch can do it sooner in person. Right, Lector?"

The russet-furred Exceed nods. "Of course you're right, Sting-kun!"

Now it's the Fairy Tail Mages' turn to be perplexed. "What are you talking about, Sting? Wouldn't it take longer that way?"

"But she's here right now," Sting said. "So why can't Frosch just thank her immediately?"

Gray stiffened, alarm shooting through him and short-circuiting his ability to respond. Shivers that had nothing to do with his magic wracked his body.

So Lucy, recognizing the familiar signs in her teammate, inquires on his behalf, "Juvia's here?"

"Yeah?" Sting replies, pointing towards a support column. "She's been hiding behind that pillar the entire time. You seriously didn't notice her? I just thought this was a normal thing for you guys, since she didn't come over here."

Indeed, the Water Mage is glowering at them from behind her marble shield, muttering darkly about Love-Rival being too close to Gray-sama under her breath.

Lucy has to stop herself from telling Sting that they hadn't noticed because this was a daily occurrence at their guild, therefore so common a sight that they hadn't registered it. She should have expected the Rain Woman's presence, actually. Wherever her precious Gray-sama went, so did Juvia.

Unfortunately, Juvia isn't alone in her hiding spot.

"Aww! Darn it, I was hoping we could hide and keep it up for at least another hour or two! You know, since you're dumb and all, Lushy."

One day that impertinent little blue fuzzball is going down. "And what are you doing here Happy?"

He flies over to her and perches on top of her head, tail draping over her face. "You left the guild with a creepy smile on your face. And you made those cookies all morning. I'm not Natsu, I can tell when you're up to something interesting!" In his excitement, he smacks his tail against her eye.

She growls, "Happy! Off!"

"…No."

Maneuvering Frosch to one arm, she reaches up and yanks Happy's tail. With a startled squeak, he falls off her head and into her other arm. Hugging both Exceeds to her chest, it looks like a friendly gesture but the fear adorning Happy's face proclaims otherwise.

Looking up at her with terrified eyes, he whispers, "You're not going to eat me, are you Lucy?"

She squishes him further, retaining a far gentler hold on Frosch. "Why would eat something as hairy as you? No thanks."

"But Lily eats kiwis with the peel on. And I think I'm going to suffocate."

"Watch where you're placing your paw if you value your damn life, feline."

Sting curses under his breath and suddenly finds the ceiling very interesting indeed.

Yukino sighs and nudges her Guild Master's arm. "You have a problem, Sting-sama."

"I know, dammit. I know."

"You're not the only one." Yukino points out the other nearby males. Lector is eyeing Frosch with apparent envy, Gray is sans-pants and frantically scrambling backwards over the table to escape Juvia's sudden closeness to his person, and Rogue is peering into the depths of the cookie bag to avoid meeting Lucy's gaze.

It's awkward as hell, but Lucy is the only one who doesn't appear to have noticed yet.

"Sting!" one of the guild members shouts. "You've got a call on the communication lacrima from Fairy Tail!"

The Guild Master looks over in relief at the distraction. "It's in my office?" At the resulting affirmative, he glances at the visiting mages. "You should come, too. They're probably just calling to see if you made it here safely, anyway."

Lucy nods and stands up, releasing Happy from her confining arm but still holding onto Frosch. Actually, Frosch doesn't appear to be letting go anytime soon.

As everyone shuffles off to the office, Lucy lags behind. She giggles as Rogue grabs the cookies before following Sting. Falling into step beside the Shadow Dragon Slayer, she smiles up at him, happy to be at Sabertooth with her Tiger friends.

Rogue watches her curiously. "Frosch really likes you," he says, the Exceed starting to fall asleep in the blonde Fairy's arms. There's something about the sight that appeals to him.

The girl's smile turns to a full-blown grin. "I really like Frosch, too. And all of you Tigers."

His gaze leaves hers, and his scarlet eyes fixed on a point somewhere off in the distance. "…Thank you."

A blue whirlwind swoops and dips over their heads. "You lllllliiiiiiiike each other." With one last aerial back flip, he alights upon the blonde mage's shoulder.

Lucy sighs at Happy's antics. "Do you like it when I hurt you, cat? Because I'm starting to think you do."

They step into the office, seeing the others crowded around the lacrima on a desk.

"Why  _my_  desk?" Rogue mutters.

"Because it was cleaner," Sting replies. "Now get your asses over here."

A quick glance at the other large piece of furniture in the office is all Lucy needs to conclude that Sting has an unexploited talent for architectural engineering. Because that's the only explanation for why the paperwork… structure on his desk hasn't toppled over yet. It isn't even swaying in the draft of air released when they opened the door. Also, it's tall. Very tall. Higher than Sting should be able to reach even while standing on his desk. Did Lector help or was Sting adding to the monolith from the bottom and pushing the whole thing higher?

Lucy jumps when her Master's wizened face fills the lacrima. "Brats!" he yells at the crystal. "What were you thinking, going out in a storm like this?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

"Sorry, Master!" they all squeak.

Sting bashes his hand onto the top of the lacrima a few times, terrifying the Fairy Tail Mages. "Old man Makarov! Get your ugly mug back a step; no one wants to see your nose hairs you senile old fart! And you don't need to shout at the damn lacrima, we can hear you just fine!"

"Um… Sting-sama? You're shouting, too…"

"Sting you brat! You should have contacted me the second they showed up!"

Shaking her head, Lucy informs him, "You're still shouting, Master."

Master Makarov heaves a great sigh at the other end. "Please tell me that you're at least going to stay the night over there? This storm isn't getting any better. In fact, Wendy and Laxus say it won't ease up until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

Sting shrugs. "We have some guest rooms here in the guild for visitors; it shouldn't be a problem to put them up for the night." The lights flicker. "It's going to be a bit scary in the dark if the light lacrima lose their power, though."

"Speak for yourself," Rogue comments, as perfectly at ease in the darkness as he is the light.

The other Dragon Slayer rolls his eyes. "You'll be the only one okay with that, Rogue. Did you guys know he has an attack just like my Holy Nova one, only it's Shadow? Fucking creepy."

"I also know better than to unleash such an attack indoors, Sting."

"What exactly are you insinuating?"

Ignoring the light and shadow duo, Lucy glances at Gray and Juvia. "But won't we miss the big announcement you had planned for tomorrow?"

Makarov steps back from the crystal, only to start picking his nose. "That's partly why I called. I'll just give you the information now."

"Master?" Lucy points out, "That's gross." She chokes when he flicks it away. That's it. There is no way she's setting foot in his office until he scours it clean.

The old man shrugs. "What I wanted to tell you brats is that we won't be doing the Fantasia Parade for the Harvest Festival this year." He smiled sadly at the disappointed mutterings of his adopted children. "It just takes too much planning that we didn't have the time for, what with coming home, the Infinity Clock, and preparing for the Grand Magic Games. The guild is still struggling to return to how it once was, and it will take some time to get there even after our  _spectacular_  win at the GMGs."

The rival Guild Master snorts at this, smirking at the other Guild Master. "Don't worry, Makarov. Sabertooth will take the title of Fiore's strongest off your hands next year." His smile falls and he looks contemplative. "It is too bad that there won't be a parade this year, though. That's where Rogue and I actually met, did you know? At the last one you guys threw – the same year you disappeared."

Simple though the statement was, it was enough to brighten the disposition of all the Fairy Tail Mages. "Really? We were all in it!" Lucy exclaimed. "Do you remember seeing us?"

Sting blinks at her, thinking hard. "Kind of. I think I remember the costumes pretty well."

"I designed those!" Master Makarov declares with pride.

Sting gave him a thumbs up. "And all of us prepubescent boys deeply appreciated them."

Rogue sighs at his partner. "I remember the floats, best."

Not quite true – he does recall one costume in particular very well indeed. Or more accurately, the girl who wore it.

But it's of little consequence now.

Makarov chuckles at the Dragon Slayers. "Well, we might not have the parade this year but I've managed to get Magnolia's City Council and Mayor to allow us to put on a couple of exhibitions this year in its place. So Fairy Tail is still going to participate in the Harvest Festival. Which is what I wished to discuss with you, Gray, Lucy, and Juvia."

"Why does everyone always forget I'm here?" Happy mumbles from his perch on Lucy's shoulder.

He grins at the cat. "No one's forgotten you, Happy. I have a special job for you when you get back, so just be patient for now."

"Aye, sir!"

"Now where was I?"

"Senile!" Sting crows in a sing-song tone.

The other Guild Master glowers. "Don't push your luck, Sting. I can have Master Bob single you out at the next Guild League conference."

Silence greets the rather effective threat.

"Thank you, my boy. As I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted, not only have we missed out on the Fantasia Parade all these years, we've also not been able to carry out any more S-Class Trials. So we've decided to combine the exhibition events with the first of a series of trials. After all, we have seven years worth of mages to promote. And the Council would only let us conduct them again if the first is under the public eye and their supervision, so Mest – er, I mean, Doranbolt – will be observing on the Council's behalf. Apparently they're afraid of us calling a dragon down atop our heads again."

"A valid concern," all the mages chorus together.

"That being said, there are ten mages selected for participation in this trial. Since there are so many, I'll be choosing three new S-Class Mages from that pool. I based my initial selections on everyone's performances during the last S-Class Trial, the Infinity Clock incident, and the GMGs. I came up with a list of five men, and five women. For the men: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Elfman Strauss, Gajeel Redfox, and Freed Justine."

Gray high-fives Lucy.

"Congrats, my love!" Juvia cheers, ignoring the physical contact between her Love-Rival and her Gray-sama in her ecstatic joy.

"For the women: Levy McGarden, Cana Alberona, Wendy Marvell… and you two, my dears. Juvia Lockser and Lucy Heartfilia."

Neither woman reacts in a way the Sabertooth Mages can anticipate.

Juvia and Lucy both wail in unison at the choice.

"No, Master! Juvia wants to be Gray-sama's partner, not rival!" This would be the fourth time her guild has pitted her against her love – she can't take much more of this!

"But Master!" Lucy also protests. "Although I'm grateful to be considered a candidate, I promised Cana at the last S-Class Trial that I would make her an S-Class Mage! I can't do that if I'm her competition!"

He smiles kindly at the two despondent women. "I'm sorry, girls. I've made my decision for the participants and I can't change it now. Besides which, there won't be partners this time around. There are too many mages competing and I can't make the challenges as complicated as I would like with the limited venue and time frame." The elder mage starts to dig around in his ears. "Also, I'm not really in charge of this shindig. Laxus and the other S-Class Mages are handling most of the details – it's a part of the boy's Guild Master training. I'm hoping this turns out like the last Trial should have." He winks at the group. "I'm afraid that's all I can really say. You have a month to prepare, otherwise."

Lucy's eyes sparkle as some of the pieces begin to fall into place. "Got it, Master."

"That's my girl. Oh, and before I leave… Sting?"

"Hmm?"

Makarov finishes with his ear and flicks his prize in the same direction as the booger from earlier. "I will make sure to reserve special seats for you and five others of Sabertooth to attend as VIP guests. Don't be letting it get to your already swelled head, though. I'm inviting the same number from a few other guilds, too."

Sting grins back at Makarov, displaying his fangs. "Are you sure you want to be displaying your key members' strengths to the future GMG competition, Makarov? You might regret that."

The old man guffaws at the young upstart. "What competition? I see none. Well, toot'a'loo!"

The crystal goes dark.

Yukino giggles and places a placating hand on Sting's shoulder. "Calm down, Sting-sama."

"Arrg!" Sting growls and throws his arms into the air, almost throwing Lector off his shoulder. "That old fool knows just what buttons to push!"

"Lucy?"

The blonde woman blinks at her name falling from the Water Woman's lips. It's been a while since she's heard Juvia say it. "Yeah, Juvia?"

Fidgeting, the mage looks up at her friend. "What did you mean by, 'got it'?"

Lucy smiles. "It's another riddle, Juvia. Just like last time. And sorry, but I'm not telling you anymore than that, either. Except to say that I still intend to make Cana S-Class this time around, no matter what. I don't care that we're rivals in this – I promised her and a Celestial Mage always keeps her promises!"

Juvia nods, determination beginning to set in. "Then Juvia will do her best for Gray-sama, too!"

Gray groans. "Please don't."

"Gray-sama!"


	7. Asleep At The Table

Lucy and the others, without Sting, follow a much less circuitous path back to the main area of Sabertooth than they took to get to the office. Yukino leads the way, and the group arrives long before the blonde Guild Master does via his alternate route. Thinking this decidedly odd, Lucy presses her fellow Celestial Mage for details.

Apparently, there are a lot of Anti-Sting enchantments placed all over the guild facilities. Strong ones. Remnants from Jiemma's rule, they have yet to be broken mostly because their discovery and exact parameters can only be determined by Sting walking straight into a barrier of runes. Something he is understandably reluctant to do.

"Where are the cookies?" are the first words out of Sting's mouth as he strides into the room.

Lucy glances at Rogue, about to mention how the Shadow Dragon Slayer had them in his possession.

Except… he isn't carrying them anymore.

His facial expression is nil as he observes Sting's temper tantrum over the missing baked goods. Lucy narrows her eyes at him. It's too… textbook blank, even for Rogue. Based on her limited prior experience, she would think that at the very least annoyance would flicker across his countenance. And yet… there's absolutely nothing. Serenity would not be Lucy's first choice of a reaction to Sting's fit, and its presence here is deeply suspicious. Or perhaps she's seen too many iterations of the carefully bucolic expression from her teammates for even Rogue's impressive poker face to fool her.

Rogue had hidden the damn cookies.

And was playing innocent about it.

He glances at her, aware of her gaze.

She smiles at him, unwilling to expend the necessary effort involved in betraying the Shadow Dragon Slayer to his friend. It was  _not_  because she found the small, childish act endearing or, Council-forbid,  _adorable._

Although she is rather curious about when exactly he'd managed to perform the cookie stashing, and as to just how it is that Sting is apparently unable to sniff them out. She needs to know; a trick for deceiving a Dragon Slayer's nose would come in handy.

Gently, she sets the sleeping Frosch down upon a tabletop and slides onto the accompanying bench. A moment later, Rogue sits beside her. A wave of musk drifts over her and she temporarily forgets how to think as the pleasant scent rising from the man's dark cloak engulfs her olfactory senses – forcing her brain to abort all cognitive functions unrelated to breathing.

For a moment, she feels… safe. And warm. Or possibly that's just her cheeks as the blood-flow to the area increases alarmingly.

' _Holy shit, he smells nice. He really freaking does.'_

She's starting to understand now just why Sleepy Lucy had fallen asleep on the man.

' _Oh, Mavis. What's wrong with me?'_

Lucy squashes her thoughts before they try to get out of line at the handsome mage's close proximity. Spacing out and drooling over the way her friend smells would be bad, she suspects. She finds him attractive, sure – but that doesn't mean she's  _attracted_  to him. Stupid teenage hormones and pervading nightmares are wreaking havoc on her frontal lobe. Or maybe she has a fever. A fever would explain these delusions.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spies Happy talking to Lector. Thanking Mavis that the meddlesome feline had missed her brain's brief flight to LaLa-Land.

"I might have to conscript you for our next card game at Fairy Tail," Lucy whispers to him in an attempt to distract herself. With Rogue on her side, she might actually have a shot at defeating Cana for once. Not at poker, though. At a game affectionately referred to as 'Gold Fish' ever since Cana had drunkenly slurred Go Fish. It was basically the same as Go Fish – in truth that had been the original game they had been playing. Except Fairy Tail's resident cheating lush had decided to shamelessly lie her way through the game inventing this new favorite.

Rogue isn't following her reasoning, though he suspects she's worked out what really happened to the chocolate confections. So he nods in agreement, grateful she isn't tattling to Sting.

Sting's tirade against the no-good-goodie-thieves is cut short when the guild doors are thrown open and a drenched Orga wanders into the hall. Instead, a wail of despair winds its way across the room, startling Lucy. "Damn you, Orga! I just fucking cleaned this up again!"

The green-haired God Slayer blinks at Sting, befuddled and making no move to shut the doors against the tempest. After a moment, light dawns in his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sting," he says, walking towards the back rooms. "I've had my fill of lightning for the day; if I eat anymore I'm going to vomit. I'm going to go take a nap now."

The doors are still wide open, a thalassic tide seeping into the guild.

"Ah!" Sting cries. "Orga! Shut the damn doors first! And call me Master! No, wait! Dry off before going to sleep, dammit! You're going to ruin the mattresses!"

Lucy is beginning to understand that messing with Sting is Sabertooth's equivalent to messing with Natsu at Fairy Tail (there is little in Earthland more entertaining than telling Natsu that his scarf is on backwards – the boy would, quite literally, work himself into knots). Messing with the blonde Dragon Slayer is a time-honoured tradition at Sabertooth, and a favorite pastime for all the members. Including Rogue.

A particularly stiff gust of wind enters through the open doors, causing Yukino and Lucy to shiver, and cross their arms over their chests in an attempt to disguise just how cold it really is. Juvia, conversely, is more or less unaffected by the drop in temperature. In fact, she's already begun to creep towards her Gray-sama in the hopes he will cool her down further.

Sting and Rogue scramble for the doors again, although it takes Sting a couple seconds longer to stop staring at the girls' chests and get his rear in gear. Gray is too preoccupied with avoiding Juvia's advances to take note of aught else.

Lucy tells herself that she does  _not_  miss Rogue's presence at her side. No way. It's the scent.

…Which only drives home the fact that she might have a problem.

Trudging over to the group Sting flings a soggy arm around Yukino's shoulders, much to the Celestial Mage's dismay. "I give up, Yukino. Get someone else to clean this up while we get changed again, okay? And bring out the alcohol. I think we need to start drinking. Immediately. You're the only one that knows where it is."

"I approve of this plan!" Gray declares, ineffectually endeavoring to pry a certain Water Mage off his arm.

Yukino throws the offending damp limb off her. "Alright, Sting-sama. I'll bring out some snacks for everyone, too."

"You're the best!"

She rolls her eyes at him. "You're only saying that because you're unable to enter the guild kitchens."

Lucy's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. "There's even a rune barrier around the kitchen?" Thinking this might just be the most fantastic thing she's heard all day. Maybe she can get Freed to set one up around her refrigerator at her apartment. And kicking herself, because how the hell had she not come up with this before? She could've saved so many Jewels in grocery bills.

Sting sighs. "Strongest one in the guild." At her amused expression, he rubs the back of his head in mild chagrin. "I was an obnoxious little piece of shit growing up, Blondie. And Dragon Slayer puberty is a  _bitch._  You're in for it once Wendy-san hits it, trust me. Females are even worse. This typhoon is going to look like a gentle breeze." He shakes his head. "You should have seen some of the shit I put Rogue through."

"And yet, why has that part not actually changed?" Rogue observes dryly. "No, really. Do tell."

Lucy holds back a smile. "Yes, Sting, do tell." Inquiring minds wish to know.

"Because it's fun," Sting responds with the truth. Then he beats a hasty retreat before his best friend can retaliate.

 _Sting's_  favorite pastime has  _always_  been messing with Rogue.

* * *

Lucy declines to drink with the others, mostly because her brain is clearly already Swiss cheese and she would really rather not exacerbate the issue.

Rogue, also, refuses Sting's obstinate, insistent invitation to party. The gleam that appears in Sting's cerulean eyes speaks to trouble in his immediate future for his constraint, however.

While their friends throw themselves headlong into the alcohol – even the normally restrained Yukino getting infected by the mood – the two sit side-by-side at a nearby table. Finally getting the chance to quietly chat. Mostly, they tell each other stories about missions with their teams, and life at their respective guilds. A couple of hours pass thus without either of them noticing.

It's really nice. For the both of them.

Or it was – until Sting decided to make good on that implied promise.

Laughing like a madman, the blonde Guild Master makes his uncoordinated way up to where Rogue and Lucy were sitting. The two pausing in their conversation, they stare up at Sting. Rogue nearly groans at the shit-eating grin on his best friend's face. It could only mean that Sting, true to Rogue's initial fears, had rammed his asshole meter up to its highest setting.

"Blondie!" At the questioning look on Lucy's face, Sting lets out a drunken hiccup. Reaching down, he yanks the female mage off the bench and to her feet. She squeaks as he leads her off in a stumbling gait towards the others – only to forget whatever his original intentions were about halfway to his destination. Startled, yet cheerful, shrieks fill the Sabertooth Guild Hall as Sting drags Lucy around in an impromptu happy dance.

For the first time that he can recall, Rogue is hard put to stop himself from laughing along with the rest of the onlookers. After a couple of minutes, Sting passes her off to Gray and forces both a sloshed Juvia and a tipsy Yukino into being his temporary dance partners. Although dance might be a bit strong of a word for the flailing limbs and uncoordinated teetering taking place.

He's unsure just where this joyful version of drunk Sting came from, but Rogue can't bring himself to be anything other than proud of the young Guild Master. Sting had gone out of his way to make Lucy feel at home and welcome in the guild long before she had even arrived. Once she had arrived – with unexpected tagalongs – he'd tried to make the atmosphere light for his guests.

In  _this_  moment, Rogue appreciates Sting's efforts and friendship.

A few of those later, however, is enough to change his mind.

Winding his way back towards Rogue, Sting steals Lucy from her teammate and twirls her around a few times more. Having reached his partner, he deposits the breathless, exhausted, giggling mage down upon the bench. Flushed, she's grinning so widely her chocolate eyes are hardly visible.

To his horror, Rogue finds himself the one being dragged away this time.

Lucy, on the other hand, thinks Rogue's completely deadpan expression as Sting hauls him around is so hilarious, she might actually die. Or pee herself – which is a distinct possibility as she has no clue where the restrooms are in this confusing place.

Although there really isn't any indication of a single emotion on the Shadow Dragon Slayer's face, Lucy thinks she knows exactly what's on the stoic Shadow Dragon Slayer's mind.

' _My best friend is a complete asshole!'_

* * *

With a weary sigh, Rogue sets his quill pen down. He rubs his forehead, a headache starting to form behind his eyes.

A glance at the hall's windows does not reveal the time to him. Although his sight is the same regardless of light's availability, he can't really tell what's going on in the outside world at the moment through the storm that yet rages on.

He yawns, covering his mouth with an ink-stained hand. Turning to look at his companion, his expression softens. Lucy is sprawled out on top of the paperwork littering the table, her cheek firmly pressed into a report. Her eyes are still pinched together as if she were still concentrating hard on some vague point.

After his torture session with Sting had concluded, Rogue had removed himself to his office to attempt to finish their workload for the day. Lucy had followed the irate Dragon Slayer, slipping past him to his desk. Without a word, she'd scooped up a stack of papers and hauled them away. Mood turning to amusement, Rogue didn't have to wait long before she reappeared and the visitor was forced to admit she had no idea which way she'd come from.

She'd insisted that he work out in the main room with everyone if he felt he absolutely must get something done. And then she'd informed him that she would be assisting with the stacks as she felt her visit was why they weren't already completed. Just like with the other blondes with whom he was familiar, there'd been no arguing with her once her mind had been set.

Lucy had also mentioned that she felt bad for laughing so hard at his predicament.

Rogue had been quick to reassure her that was not the case – though he neglected to point out that her bright, cheerful peals of mirth had been the only thing preventing him from giving Sting a beat down he wouldn't soon forget.

It seems that she'd fallen asleep at some point.

A swift perusal of the rest of the unconscious forms scattered about the Guild Hall leads Rogue to conclude that the hour is quite a bit later than he'd thought.

Removing himself from the bench, he stretches. Joints popping with the release, Rogue leaves the room to locate clean, spare guest rooms for the visiting Fairy Tail Mages. It doesn't take him long to locate a couple of suitable ones. Once he's chosen one, he pulls back the covers on one of the beds for the two women to share.

Upon returning, he walks up to Yukino and gently shakes her awake. A groggy, unhappy sound pours from her throat as she wobbles to her feet. She's lurching off to locate one of the other spare rooms after a couple of minutes of dangerous swaying. Similar repetitions of awakening occur with Gray and Juvia who haul a still slumbering Happy with them to the room Rogue prepared.

Everyone else Rogue leaves where they are, though he does stop to turn a few of the inebriated mages on their sides. Including Sting. Rogue had only just finished the final leadership transfer paperwork and would rather not repeat the process should Sting suffocate on his own vomit.

Which left only Lucy to attend to.

She's shaking and whimpering in her sleep when he reaches the table where he left her.

Panicked, he tries to wake the girl, deep in the grip of what could only be a nightmare. "Lucy, wake up." His voice didn't seem to reach and he was at a loss for what to do. Neither shaking her nor calling her name appeared to be working, so he does the only other thing that comes to mind. He shrugs out of his cloak and drops it around her shoulders.

Abruptly, she stills.

Exhausted, Rogue collapses onto the bench next to her.

Lucy stirs and bolts upright, terror shining in her eyes. She turns and stares at him, unblinking. An unfinished report still stuck to her cheek. It peels off under the force of gravity and flutters to the table, leaving inked words behind on her cheek. Before he can even ask if she's okay, her right hand darts out to his face and lifts his dark bangs from his right eye, the strands falling across her guild mark.

Bewildered by the sudden action, he's unable to do anything other than just sit there dumbly as she inspects his full face. "What… are you doing?" he croaks out.

Pain crosses her features and she lets her appendage fall and return to her lap. Shame swims in her eyes as she breaks his gaze. Focusing on the table and her folded hands in her lap, she mumbles, "…Just checking." Her eyes squeeze shut after the admission, and she trembles. "I'm so sorry." Tears gather at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over. "I'm so, so sorry."

Confused and concerned for the Celestial Mage, Rogue leans down to grab the cloak that had fallen when she sat up, and repositions it around her shoulders. Her flinch at his light touch shatters something inside of him. With a quiet sigh, he withdraws his hand.

Only to be surprised yet again when she snatches it, holding it on the table between both of hers. Tremors yet flow through her flesh as she grips his, but her mouth is set in a determined line. "You've done nothing wrong," she says, firm. Still, she keeps her gaze fixed on their entwined hands.

So he glances at them, too. He's struck by how her small fingers and palms feel against his much larger counterparts. They're not smooth and soft, like he had expected. Instead, her hands are as calloused as his, with tiny scars crisscrossing her knuckles, palms, and the backs of her hands. They're not limbs that belong to a sheltered girl of seventeen – not even close. These belong to someone who has fought for what she believes in, souvenirs of countless battles for survival and friendship.

They are the hands of a warrior.

He wrenches his gaze away from the digits before his thoughts get away from him. "Are you feeling better?" Rogue asks, peering at her face for any sign of distress.

Lucy opens her mouth, but no words come out. After a second or two, she closes it, giving her head a slight shake and rolling her shoulder.

The Dragon Slayer raises an eyebrow. Communication in general isn't his strong suit and the blonde's response is anything but clear. So he waits. No further response seems to be forthcoming, though. Something gnaws at him about her nightmare, and he can't stop himself from inquiring, "I never saw him. What was he like?" Rogue has a sinking feeling that her earlier actions had a great deal to do with his Future counterpart. He thought that maybe she'd met the man. Natsu had defeated him after all, and Lucy was nearly inseparable from her pink-headed partner.

The Celestial Mage's eyelids flutter shut. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she releases it with a gust from her mouth. Any number of answers are occurring to her as weariness returns to claim her.

' _He was terrifying.'_

' _He was evil.'_

' _He was insane.'_

' _He was broken.'_

' _He was a monster.'_

' _HE WASN'T YOU.'_

However, none of that is what actually came out of Sleepy Lucy's mouth. "He was drop-dead gorgeous."

Out of all possible responses, that was the one that had not occurred to him. Thrown for a loop, his crimson eyes bored into the side of her face. "…Come again?"

Finally, she met his gaze, with a wry twist of her mouth. "He was drop-dead gorgeous," she repeats. Heaving a sigh, she admits, "His hair was prettier than mine." Unbidden, giggles arise out of her, and soon both mages find themselves sharing a quiet, semi-hysterical chuckle over the odd observation. After the fit subsides a bit, she continues, "In all seriousness, though. Rogue, you're not him. Don't beat yourself up for things you won't ever do." She removes her hands from his to cover up a yawn.

Rogue tries not to mourn their loss.

"Would you like something warm to drink?" he offers instead.

Blinking blearily at him, she nods.

By the time he returns from the kitchen a scant few minutes later, she's asleep at the table again. His cloak securely in her clutches.

He waves the hot chocolate under her nose – a move that usually works on Sting. No such luck; she's truly out.

Setting the cups down, he gathers the dead-to-the-world mage in his arms and carries her down the hallway. She's lighter than he thought she would be. Once he reaches the guest room, he places her beside the Water Mage and azure-furred Exceed. The bluenette wastes no time in snuggling up to her, mumbling, "Love-Rival will not escape. Gray-sama is Juvia's."

Rogue shakes his head at the girls. Tucking the covers around the pair of sleeping Fairy Tail Mages, he flicks the lights off as he leaves.

There is no way he's getting any sleep tonight, though.


	8. Room Corners

As Lucy awakens, she realizes she definitely has a problem.

A few of them, actually.

But right now, the most pressing one is the fact that Gray is sleeping with his head on her bladder. (Really, brain? Really? Puns? First thing in the morning?) Shoving her slumbering teammate aside, she extricates herself from Juvia's embrace to make her way to where the toilet by rights should be.

Stumbling into the door, she rubs her now-smarting forehead and grumbles under her breath. A forceful fling of the object blocking her way and she steps into the room beyond. Groping for the lights, once they're on she's left just as confused as before.

Because this isn't the bathroom.

It's a closet.

' _Where the fuck am I?'_

A queasy ripple through her midsection quells any desire to further investigate the mystery.

' _Where the hell is the toilet?!'_

Lurching from the incorrect room, she scans for another door. Spotting one, she rushes to it. Hallway. From her new viewing angle of the bedroom, Lucy is able to identify one more door – which, upon inspection, yields the desired facilities.

It's only once she's finished and halfway through her morning routine that she realizes her toiletries are nowhere to be found. A few minutes more of groggy contemplation reveals to her that she doesn't actually recognize the bathroom she in, either. Or the bedroom from whence she came. The closet and hallway are also unfamiliar. Normally, this would lead her to conclude she was at a hotel for a mission, but then her toiletries would still be present or at least a hairbrush and toothbrush.

Lucy eyes her reflection, as if it would give her the answers.

She's rather surprised when it does.

Dark splotches on her cheek resolve into words in the glass – words she can read. Reverse-imprinted upon her flesh, despite the help of the mirror Lucy cannot glean any important information from it. Prodding her cheek experimentally, she's left wondering just how she acquired the lettering. It's dry, so it must have been some time ago.

Her hair is an utter mess, too. As if she'd walked through a storm again. She's not entirely sure how her hair could get that mussed when all she did was sleep.

Deeming it unimportant, she grasps the door handle to reenter the room.

A peek around the corner reveals a room she's still unfamiliar with. Also, it's a little odd to find Gray and Juvia both in the same bed. Belatedly, Lucy recalls that it was hers, too. The other bed in the room looks rumpled, though, which provides her answer. Gray must have gotten lonely and snuck in with the girls at some point in the night. During missions Team Natsu slept in a dog pile on top of Lucy half the time so it wasn't all that surprising. Although Gray is definitely in for a surprise when Juvia wakes up.

Which would be… right about now.

Juvia squeals in ecstasy at seeing her beloved so close and in the same bed, even! Promptly going on the attack, awakening Gray with a startled yelp of terror.

The confused and terrified man's gaze reaches Lucy's, silently pleading with the blonde for salvation.

She shakes her head and slowly closes the door, ignoring her teammate's subsequent despair. There is no way she is getting in the middle of that. And Gray brought it upon himself – missions were one thing but she did not suffer to share her bed with her male teammates. They were horrible sleepers, for one. Gray tends to spread himself all over the place and Natsu sleep fights. Gray has seen her rearrange Natsu's skeletal structure for the offense enough times that he really should know better by now.

Also, she doesn't want to Juvia to realize that Lucy had been in the same bed too. That might not end well. Especially with how she'd woken up with Gray's head on her midsection and trapped within Juvia's arms in a strange, unfamiliar room.

Only for her memory to decide that  _now_  would be the most appropriate and opportune moment to return. A strangled noise emanates from the back of her throat. Releasing the door handle as if it were scalding hot, she pivots around and presses her back against the door. Knees no longer functioning, she slides to the ground.

She really is going to have to do something about Sleepy Lucy. Like, slap her.

Soon.

Her heart is not going to be able to take many more of these surprises.

Just how much trouble is she in? Future Rogue may have been the topic of discussion the prior night, but it doesn't escape Lucy's attention that what she said can be applied to her dark friend by association. And because they're technically the same person.

Gorgeous. Drop-dead gorgeous, no less. Is that really what she thinks of Future Rogue? And the present Rogue, as well? Uncomfortable though it is, she has to accept it as the truth because Sleepy Lucy cannot be bothered with lying.

Also, Sleepy Lucy doesn't let Awake Lucy forget anything that transpires. Not even that small kindness is awarded her. Sleepy Lucy cannot be allowed out in front of Rogue again, lest something else pop out of her mouth that Lucy isn't prepared to deal with.

How in Earthland is she going to face Rogue after essentially saying he's… pretty? Prettier than her. This is a hundred times worse than accidentally saying he smells nice. Actually, there is no scale by which to compare the two. What will she say when she sees him next? Will she be able to even string words together before collapsing into a superheated mess? Suddenly, she understands how Wendy must feel when she's at her most unsure. It's a positively miserable feeling.

Sneaking out the back door is starting to seem like the best plan of action for her to take right now. It's discarded after a minute of thought as an unviable option. She doesn't even know where the back door is. Or if one exists to begin with.

Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know how to get back to the main area either.

She's just going to have to gather up the tattered remnants of her dignity and face the man.

Which leads her wonder if she actually has to bring up the topic in conversation. It's not considered running away from the problem… right?

No, that's definitely running away from the problem.

Actually, what is the problem with all this, really? Is it really an issue at all? So what if she called him drop-dead gorgeous! He is, and he's probably well aware of that fact already. It's just… really, really embarrassing because she hadn't realized herself until that moment she thinks he is. And she can't deny that she still does, even while fully awake.

Thinking over the circumstances that led to the comment causing her so much dismay, Lucy frowns. Despite the nebulous motives and brutal honesty of Sleepy Lucy (she's really not going to try to analyze that woman's thought processes so early in the morning), the fact remains that she never truly answered Rogue's question about Future Rogue. There were so many other things that had come to mind in response to the query, but Sleepy Lucy had gone with the most embarrassing of the lot. Those other things she hadn't gotten the chance to say, though…

Rogue should be told. He deserves a real answer. She needs to tell him that he isn't Future Rogue. If only for her own peace of mind.

It also makes her wonder if she should explain the full story behind her nightmares.

Frantic knocking breaks through her reverie. "Love-Rival! Open up!" Juvia whines. "Juvia needs to pee or Juvia will turn into a puddle!"

Scrambling to her feet in record time, Lucy yanks the door open and the bluenette rushes in past the blonde. Exiting and shutting the door firmly behind her, Lucy sighs. She doesn't see Gray anywhere when she glances around the room. He must have escaped the water woman's clutches while Lucy was occupied with her panic attack.

Hoping to catch him so she can inquire as to where exactly the common area is located, Lucy reenters the hallway. Gray is nowhere to be found, though. Likely hightailed it as fast and as far as he could. For all Lucy knows, he could be halfway back to Magnolia by now.

Just as she's about to retreat into the room once more, next door down the hallway opens. When Rogue steps out, Lucy nearly flees back into the safety of the room. Great effort keeps her out in the hallway as he notices her.

"Good morning, Lucy," he greets, damp hair trailing in his eyes.

"Good morning, Rogue," Lucy automatically replies, fighting to keep down a blush at how much she likes hearing that from him and at how easily the words spring to her own mouth.

"Was the room satisfactory?" Rogue inquires, eyes lingering on her altogether frightening bed-head.

Lucy loses the fight with her internal temperature gauge as she remembers the state of her hair from her perusal in the mirror. Somehow, through her intense discomfiture, she manages to squeak out, "It's great." After a second or two of silence, she decides to forge on ahead with what she had resolved to talk to him about. If she delays it too much, she might lose her nerve and her face is already the same shade as his eyes so what the hell.

"Hey, Rogue… um… about last night…" And whoops. She'd waited too long. Nerve is gone.

A moment passes, and Rogue says, "If this is about how you got to bed, I put you there after you fell asleep at the table."

Oh. She'd wondered about that. "Thanks. But… I wanted to talk about the conversation we had last night."

He regards her blankly. "What conversation would that be?"

Lucy blinks at him in confusion. "You know, the one after I fell asleep on the reports – after my nightmare."

This doesn't seem to ring any of Rogue's mental bells. "I'm sorry, Lucy. But I'm still not sure what you're talking about. Did you dream you spoke to me about something? Sting does that quite often." It was rather annoying when the Dragon Slayer did that, actually. Mostly because Dream Rogue apparently said all of the wrong things to Sting, and it could take days before the issue was sorted out as being all in Sting's head.

That can't be possible. Sleepy Lucy has perfect recall (unfortunately). Doubt plagues her, though, because Rogue's explanation makes sense. It wouldn't be the first time Lucy's dreamt a discussion or argument that didn't happen (thoroughly confusing Natsu because he had no idea why Lucy was pissed off at him all of a sudden for things he hadn't even destroyed yet).

Could Rogue possibly be lying to her?

If so, why? Did he have a reason for playing the ignorance card?

Lucy then remembers that she initially didn't want to have this conversation either, and had debated pretending it hadn't happened. She hadn't considered that Rogue might want to do the same, however. Maybe the topic of Future Rogue was still a too-raw one for him right now.

Yeah, that was probably it.

So she goes along with it.

"You're probably right. Maybe I just dreamt it. Wouldn't be the first time," she reassures him.

Tension drains from his shoulders.

There is no doubt in her mind now that he is trying to avoid a continuation of their discussion.

A light tap on Lucy's shoulder catches her attention. "Love-Rival! Juvia thinks we should get cleaned up before joining the others."

Lucy smiles at her friend. "Yeah, sure." She turns back to Rogue. "Sorry, Rogue. I'll see you shortly?"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer nods. "I will be out on an errand for a little while, but I should return before long."

Juvia remains at the door while Lucy runs to the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. On the other side of the wooden barricade, Rogue can hear her muffled, "Virgo, can you get Juvia and I a fresh change of clothes?"

The water mage regards Rogue for a long moment. "Love-Rival is sometimes really dense," she suddenly announces. "But it's one of the things about her that Juvia likes the most."

A smile almost breaks free to Rogue's face. "Likewise."

Juvia smiles at him knowingly, and shuts the door.

Rogue turns to leave, silently thanking that particular trait of the blonde's. That conversation would have been even more awkward if she had realized that the bathroom of the room next to hers shared a vent with the one she had holed up in. Apparently, she also had the rather endearing habit of talking to herself out loud without being aware of it.

He's content with not discussing more about the previous night and leaving the issue be for now. Lucy didn't seem at all ready to face whatever her feelings were in regards to Rogue – present or future, friendship or something else. Besides… it gave him a little bit of hope that someday his lingering (and still utterly mortifying) crush might one day be reciprocated.

Rogue is, after all, very patient.

* * *

A none-too-gentle knock resounds on the door. When Lucy opens it, Sting is waiting for her on the other side.

"Yo!" he greets. "Just coming to see if you two are coming for breakfast… er, lunch?" Sting amends when he remembers the time.

"Brunch," Lucy supplies for him.

"Right. Anyway, Yukino wants to know. She's just about done in the kitchens."

Smiling at him, Lucy replies, "Juvia's in the shower. But she should be finished soon. Do you want to wait in here until then? Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure which way is back."

Sting nods and enters when she steps aside to let him in. "Fine with me. Yukino ordered me to not come back without you two, anyway. It's my policy to never argue with a woman when she has a knife in hand." Sitting down on the edge of one of the beds, he surveys the room for a moment. "You didn't have to make the beds, Blondie. We would have taken care of that."

Leaving the door ajar, Lucy goes to sit next to the Guild Master. "It's okay. And that sounds like a wise policy, by the way."

A pained grimace crosses Sting's face. "Had to learn that one the hard way. Turns out that, while I may not be able to pass the rune barrier around the kitchen, it doesn't stop a thrown knife from reaching  _me_."

Giggles burst forth from Lucy as she imagines that.

Offended, Sting scoffs at his fellow blonde. "It's not that funny, Blondie." When her mirth refuses to subside, he rolls his eyes at her. "All joking aside, there was something I wanted to say to you."

Wiping tears from her eyes, she motions for him to continue.

"About Rogue. I just wanted to thank you. For, you know, being his friend. Especially given… you know who."

 _That_  sobers her up fast. "Sting, you don't need to thank me. I like Rogue." She shrugs when he raises an eyebrow at her. "You know what I mean." Nudging his shoulder with hers, she adds, "He's kinder than he lets on most of the time. It makes it easy to like him. It's not just that, though. Rogue seems to be trying very hard to prove to everyone that he won't become Future Rogue. I just wish he understood that we all know there's no way that future will come to pass, because Rogue is a good guy."

Sting sighs at her statement. "Yeah, and the only person he actually needs to convince is himself," he laments. Inspiration strikes him, and he playfully nudges her right back. "Think you can help with that, too, Blondie?"

Lucy grins at him. "I would love to."

"Oh, that reminds me," Sting said, unease creeping into his expression. "You might want to tread carefully around Rogue today. He was in a really foul mood earlier this morning."

Lucy's first thought flew to a dread that Rogue might have been upset with her for her comments the night before. A moment later, she reconsiders and frowns in concentration. Rogue had seemed perfectly normal when she'd spoken to him not long ago.

The answer is simpler to discern than she initially believed.

While Rogue is a difficult person to read, Sting is not. The man wears his emotions like a flashing neon sign, much like his former idol Natsu. And right now that sign obnoxiously proclaims, "I'm Guilty."

She fixes him with a flat expression. "What did you do?"

He flinches under her gaze. "Why do you assume I did something?" Sting observes her unimpressed disbelief at his assertion. "I did do something, but that's not the point."

"What was it?" Now Lucy is amused. He's getting defensive. This ought to be good.

"I vomited on him when he came to wake me up."

Lucy stares at him. Completely understanding just why Rogue might be upset about that. It also explained his wet hair when she'd spoken with him – he must have just gotten cleaned up.

"…You are a truly wonderful best friend."

"I am the best," Sting replies. "With friends like you and me, it does sort of call his tastes into question, though."

"Don't include  _me_  in that statement!" the Celestial Mage protests.

The Dragon Slayer gives her a derisive snort. "Says the woman who walked through a typhoon to get here in order to return a cloak I have yet to actually see."

About to argue with him, Lucy suddenly pauses. Trying to recall if she had brought the cloak, or if she'd given it to Virgo for safekeeping.

To her horror, a flash of memory reveals that she left it folded and draped on the back of a chair. In her apartment. Back in Magnolia.

Facepalming, she groans while Sting guffaws.

"I can't believe I forgot it!"

Sting collapses backwards onto the bedspread, rolling around in his uncontainable glee.

Lucy waits patiently for the man's giggle fit to subside. Silently cursing her absentmindedness. "Where is Juvia?" she grumbles under her breath.

Wiping his eyes, Sting sits up again. "I've got a question for you, Blondie. Just how does that work? I mean, Juvia's  _made_  of water right?"

Shocked, wide eyes meet that remark. "I have no clue," Lucy admits. "What would you do?"

Contemplating it for a moment, Sting offers, "Plug the drain and hope for the best?"

The bathroom doors slams open. "How rude! Juvia can maintain her solid form in water just fine at full strength! Although," she adds, "Juvia does sometimes plug the drain, just in case." Suppressed giggling from the two blondes only serves to irritate Juvia further. She stamps a foot to regain their attention and the muffled laughter bursts forth from them in uncontrollable waves.

The bluenette huffs and resigns herself to waiting until they're done being silly.


	9. At The Breakfast Table

"Sting… Juvia's been wondering," Juvia asks as the group makes its way down the confusing corridors of the guild.

Lifting a thin, blond eyebrow, Sting urges, "Do go on."

"Juvia's noticed that Rogue wears a katana," the water mage observes thoughtfully. "However, Juvia has never seen him use it before."

A strange sound emanating from his throat, Sting raises his fist to his mouth. The noise again warbles out of the Dragon Slayer's maw, despite his attempts to stifle it. "He doesn't!" Sting's shoulders shake with laughter. "Allow me to regale you with the tale!"

Lucy exchanges a glance with Juvia. This ought to be… interesting.

"You see, when we were younger, Rogue was an amazing swordsman… Okay, I'm lying. He was rather inept with a blade, truth be told, but he still had one for some reason," explains Sting, the Dragon Slayer still trying to restrain his mirth and failing miserably. "I have no idea where he got it, but he had it."

The Celestial mage stares at the man, incredulity written upon her face. "That… seems impractical. If he couldn't use it, why did he carry it?" Lucy asks, perplexed. "Actually, why does he  _still_  cart it around with him? It's just useless weight, right? I may not know the man particularly well, I have to admit… but it doesn't sound like something Rogue would do."

Then again, the Dragon Slayer  _had_  hidden the cookies from Sting. And had then proceeded to mess with him. So maybe it wasn't too far outside the realm of possibility for him to behave as such.

With a nod, Juvia adds, "Juvia agrees. Juvia can understand Sting and Love-Rival doing something so pointless-"

"Hey!" the blonds protest in unison.

"But Juvia is a bit surprised at the thought of Rogue doing it."

Groaning, Sting shakes his head at the Water mage. "You'd be surprised. Rogue can be just as nonsensical as me when he feels like it."

So Sting was  _aware_  that he often made no sense? And yet he persisted in acting that way. Wonderful to know, that.

Sting, presumably unaware of Juvia and Lucy's identical expressions of bewilderment at his prior statement, blithely went on, "He did learn how to use the thing. Eventually. Nowhere near Erza's level, or that scary Mermaid Heel girl Kagura Mikazuchi, for example. Still. He can wield a katana now."

Sighs of relief whoosh out from the two Fairy Tail mages' lungs. Lucy isn't sure why, but the idea of Rogue carrying around a weapon he doesn't know how to wield makes her distinctly uncomfortable. Though she's seen Natsu do much the same, so really - why  _does_  it bother her? Shaking it off as unimportant for the moment, Lucy redirects her attention to what Sting was saying.

"A few years ago, though… he stopped using the one he carried around." Frowning, Sting's steps slow. "I asked him why, but all he would say was that his old one broke. And that he couldn't afford to use this one." With a roll of his cerulean eyes, Sting's pace increases once more. "Whatever that means. Rogue still occasionally practices his sword-work with other blades, so I assume he  _could_  wield that katana if he absolutely had to."

A slow smile spreading across his face, Sting glances at Lucy with a mischievous sparkle in his gaze. "I'm sure if  _you_  ask him, Blondie, he might tell you why."

Huffing, Lucy brushes off Sting's words. "And  _why_ , precisely, would he choose to tell  _me_  as opposed to his oldest friend?"

Sting and Juvia exchange skeptical glances at Lucy's question.

"Love-Rival," Juvia sighs and shrugs, as if it explained everything.

Sting holds out his arms in an equally helpless gesture. "They're a matched set, I'm telling you."

Lucy's amber gaze darts between the pair, trying to discern where the insult was in their statements. Because it is patently obvious to the Celestial mage that they are making fun at her expense. Somehow. And when she discovers what it is, she's going to call them out on it.

But for now it remains a mystery to her. Especially when they begin to laugh at her bewildered expression.

As the group approached the main guild area, they are surprised to see Gray already sitting at a table and plowing into a plate of food at a pace furious enough to match his long-time rival's. Apparently he had not fled the guild as Lucy had earlier assumed.

"Gray-sama!" With that call, Juvia disappears from others' sides, only to suddenly rematerialize  _way_  too close to the Ice Make Mage.

A tiny, muffled screech of terror warbles out of Gray's throat, the man tripping all over his own limbs and the table's bench in his frantic effort to escape the Water Mage and her affections.

The rest of the Sabertooth guild members present laugh at the free show.

Sliding into Gray's vacated spot, Sting rubs his hands in glee at the abandoned food. "Don't mind if I do!"

"I mind! I mind, goddammit!" Gray shrieks, fleeing Juvia's heartfelt embrace she was currently bestowing upon him.

The sudden appearance of a knife thunking into the wood in front of him gave Sting considerable pause.

"Stealing other people's food is rude, Master Sting!" scolds Yukino, emerging from the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am," the Dragon Slayer responds weakly. Shrinking down in his seat, he shuffles slowly away from Gray's plate. "Understood. Loud and clear."

Brilliant, dazzling smile upon her angelic face, Yukino greets the others with a polite and cheerful, "Good morning, everyone! I can have your brunch finished for you in just a few minutes. Why don't you take a seat, and let me know if you would like to drink anything?"

Returning her fellow Celestial Mage's smile, Lucy places herself across from Gray, who was crawling back up onto the bench. Juvia sits beside her beloved, squirming her way between Sting and Gray. "I would love some juice Mira - oh my goodness!" she blurts in alarm, face reddening at the blunder. "I'm so sorry! It just - I automatically..."

Yukino shakes her head, giggling. "It's quite alright, Lucy-sama! Honest mistake!"

Nearby, Sting began to snicker softly. At least, until Yukino retrieved the large piece of cutlery from the tabletop by yanking it out with considerable force and deliberate emphasis within her motions. Then he stays quiet.

Though not for long, of course. This is Sting, after all.

"So where the hell is Rogue?!" the Dragon Slayer demands, flopping onto the table. "We have guest to entertain!"

"Actually, we would just like to eat," Lucy informs him, smiling. "But Rogue did mention that he had an errand in town, when I ran into him earlier this morning."

At this point, Yukino returns with the plates, forestalling Sting's response - though he does blink and peer at his fellow blond in obvious suspicion. "Thanks, Yukino!" he says, and then turns back to Lucy. "And when exactly was this, Blondie?"

"Before you showed up," Lucy states with a shrug. "Thank you so much, Yukino!"

"You're welcome!" the silver-haired woman returns. "I'll be in the kitchen with Lector, if you need me! He's helping today."

"Whatever you're thinking, Sting, stop," a dulcet voice intoned, its owner stepping into the room. "You'll give yourself an aneurism."

"Methinks you doth protest too much!" Sting sings at his returning partner. "So what were you up to that was so important, you had to leave these lovely ladies - and moi - behind?"

His mouth occupied with his breakfast, and unable to speak, Gray sweeps his hand around in several gestures that clearly state, 'What am I? Chopped wing-fish?'

Receiving the message, Juvia hugs her guild mate's arm. "Gray-sama  _always_  matters to Juvia!"

Lucy fights back a mischievous grin in anticipation of what she wants to say next. That stupid blue cat was definitely wearing off on her. "You're the loveliest of all, Gray."

Juvia's eyes narrow at her blonde friend. "Juvia agrees with Love-Rival. But doesn't feel right about that statement coming  _from_  Love-Rival."

"Fro thinks so, too!" the costume-clad Exceed chirps, emerging from behind Rogue's legs.

Sighing, Gray gives up. Swallowing his food, he gives a small wave at Rogue. "Hey, Rogue," he greets. "And good morning, Frosch."

The small Exceed totters over to the group. "Good morning!" Clamoring onto the tabletop, it chooses to sit beside Lucy. "Did you like the room? Fro chose it!"

With a gentle pat to the cat's head, Lucy replies, "Yes, thank you, Frosch. You did a very good job."

"Fro thinks so, too!" it purred.

Rogue nearly smiles at the sight. "Good morning, Lucy. Gray. Juvia-san."

"Dude, it's totally afternoon!" Sting interjects before the rest get a chance to return the greeting. "And stop ignoring me!"

Rolling his eyes, Rogue sits beside Lucy.

Remembering their exchange from earlier, Lucy flushes a little. And completely not because of his close proximity. Not much of a blush at all, really.

But apparently noticeable to the rest of the people at the table, and their smirks directed at her. She may as well be wearing a sign saying, "I am confused about how this person makes me feel!"

...Actually...

She glances up, looking for just such a sign. She doesn't put it past Gray to pull a stunt like that.

"What are you looking at?" Rogue inquires, peering at Lucy with curiosity in his scarlet eyes.

Jumping, she squeaks out, "Nothing!"

Concern on his face, he thankfully lets it drop. "Alright."

"Sooooo?" Sting cajoles. "Where were you slinking off to before?"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer's face falls back into its usual, bland expression as he regards Sting. "I don't slink."

"You totally do, man. But that's not the point. What were you up to?"

"Inspecting the damage the storm did," Rogue replies. "And seeing if the tracks were clear enough for our guests to return via train. The Station Master assures me that all the railroads are functional and that the trains - though delayed - are running."

Lucy beams at him. "Thank you so much, Rogue!"

His eyes soften towards her slightly. "You are most welcome, Lucy."

Sting makes an exaggerated gagging noise at the sight, swiftly silenced by a glare from Rogue.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Lucy leans forward, catching Sting's gaze. "Rogue and I were talking last night, and I have a question for you."

Perking up, the blond man nods. "Ask away, Blondie!"

"Sting... how did you get a hold of my personal, home address?"

Everyone at the table freezes in place, including Sting himself.

"Well?" Lucy gently prods.

Brightening suddenly, the White Dragon Slayer nods vigorously at the Celestial mage. "Okay! I'll tell you! You see, Jason…"

"Stop!" Lucy orders, sweat beading upon her brow and alarmed by the great enthusiasm in his response. "Never mind. I don't want to know after all!"

Slamming a fist into the table, Sting makes all the breakfast plates jump. "Oh, come on!" he complains. "You people keeping asking me this! So why, whenever I try to answer, does no one  _actually_  want to hear the story?!"

"Because  _you're_  too eager to  _tell it_!" Lucy and Rogue chorus.

Juvia begins to giggle at the pair. "Juvia would like to remind Love-Rival that you had a question for Rogue-san, too."

Regarding her blankly, Lucy tries to recall what Juvia is talking about. "I do?"

"Yes! About the sword."

"Oh, right!" Lucy smiles at the Water mage. "Thanks, Juvia!" Turning towards Rogue, the Celestial mage meets Rogue's curious expression. "I was wondering about the katana you carry around -"

She stops, as Rogue's face abruptly turns to one of quiet, acute, complete and utter  _panic_.

Nervous sweat beading down his face, Rogue gives his head a slight shake. "I would rather not talk about that, please."

"Um... okay," Lucy agrees. "Can I ask why, though?" she inquires, perplexed by the strange response. "Is something the matter?"

"I was... I was fourteen when I... acquired this katana," Rogue says slowly. "And it's... This is a time of my life I prefer to not revisit, if at all possible. Especially not the... circumstances that led to it being in my possession."

Comprehension dawns in Sting's eyes. "Wait a second, is this from that one time you went off on that unapproved job and-"

"Sting. Shut up," Rogue warns him. "I don't wish to discuss this. How about we all eat, instead." His does not indicate that it is a suggestion.

Laying a hand gently, on Rogue's arm, Lucy smiles up at him. "That's fine, Rogue. And I'm starving!"

She shoots a warning look at Sting before he can open up his mouth to say anything further on the topic.

"So, Lector is helping Yukino cook?" she asks, turning her attention to her plate, piled high with food. "Does he do that often?"

Successfully distracted by the mention of his cat, Sting launches into a long-winded monologue on Lector's many good traits and talents.

Rogue nudges Lucy's arm, mouthing the words, "Thank you," to her.

Smiling back at the Shadow Dragon Slayer, she mouths in return, "You're welcome."

She'll find out someday. If Rogue is ever ready to tell her.

Whatever it must be, she suspects it's highly embarrassing for the man.

Mavis knows how mortifying Lucy finds at her own memories of that age!


	10. Painting Over The Corners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to ChaoticDucky, who waited so patiently for so long for this chapter.

Great trepidation floods Rogue’s body as he eyes the guild hall of his friends.  The great ruckus emanating from within the building is an assault on his Dragon Slayer senses, and it’s a wonder that the other Dragon Slayers in the guild can withstand the constant bombardment of noise and smells.  It’s a wonder, too, that despite this, he still fully intends to enter and seek out one member in particular.

It’s been a couple of weeks since Lucy made the reckless journey to Sabertooth.  Although Rogue wanted to visit the Celestial Mage much sooner, work seems to always get in the way – along with the bills he still needs to pay.  It’s the first day he’s taken off, and he fully intends to spend it visiting Fairy Tail.  But the cacophony is giving him second thoughts and although he’s not one hundred percent certain as to why, Rogue trusts his instincts when they tell him to flee a situation.

Frosch, however, holds none of Rogue’s conflicting feelings, the cat heading straight for the door and forcing Rogue into following his little friend.

Entering brings the entire fracas to a standstill.  Every individual within the guild collectively turns to stare at the interloper, and Rogue suddenly has the feeling that he’s interrupted something important.  Building materials are scattered all around, and the scent of sweat and paint fumes is overpowering.

“Rogue!”

The cheery calling of his name turns the Dragon Slayer towards the source.  Lucy is rapidly winding her way past her guildmates who – upon seeing that it’s just a Saber – return to their tasks.  There’s paint splashed across her cheek and in her hair, but she hardly seems to notice in her excitement.

She beams upon spotting Frosch as well.  “Hello, Rogue!  And Frosch as well!”

“Lucy!” the Exceed proclaims happily, holding its arms up.  When Lucy acquiesces and picks the Exceed up, Frosch comfortably settles into her arms.  “Fro and Rogue came to visit!”

Her laughter is infectious, and so is her smile.  “And I’m happy to see both of you!”

Rogue’s answering smile at the two of them is small, but heartfelt.  “What are all of you making?” he asks with a glance around the hustle and bustle.  “I thought Fairy Tail wasn’t participating in the parade this year, so they can’t be floats.”

Lucy’s smile abruptly turns into a grimace.  “Turns out we need to make more stands to accommodate all the attention our S-Class trials garnered.”  Raising an eyebrow, Rogue contemplates the guild at large with clear concern.  “We’re making the stands on site!” Lucy hurriedly adds, sweat running down the back of her neck.  “These are just the signs and smaller things.”

Relief washes through him.  Oh good.  They never would have been able to get the stands out of the guild hall if they’d built them inside.

“Would you like some help?” he offers.  This isn’t what he had planned in coming here, but then he didn’t really have any plans in the first place so if this was how he ended up spending his time with Lucy then that would be fine, too.

His partner is all for the idea.  “Fro will help, too!”

Attacked on two fronts, Lucy capitulates swiftly.  “Sure, that’d be great.  Hate to make you guys do work though when you’re guests…”

“I want to.”

Rogue’s emphatic, clear-cut answer heads off any further protest on Lucy’s part.  “Well, if you insist… then I don’t see any more reasons why not.”

The Dragon Slayer follows Lucy back to the sign she was working on before.  Unlike others who are working in groups, Lucy is alone at her task so far as Rogue can tell.  Her sign is in the shape of the Fairy Tail Guild’s emblem, though of huge proportions.  A clear coat has already been applied, and one corner of it has the first coating in a gorgeous goldenrod hue.  Rogue can’t help but compare the shade to Lucy’s hair.

He wonders where the _green_ paint on Lucy’s face and hair came from.

Although, knowing Fairy Tail, he doesn’t rule out the notion that they’d engaged in a paint-flinging contest prior to his arrival.  It seems like something they would do.

Then Lucy hands him a paintbrush and Rogue is confronted with an entirely different dilemma than the mystery of the green paint.

Rogue has zero idea how to paint.

It is no secret that Sabertooth is a combat-oriented guild.  Jiemma had been a monster that had revered strength above all else, and any other talent was basically worth less than garbage.  He also imposed his rule with an iron fist that put Gajeel to shame.  Therefore, any request that was put in for anything outside of that was rejected long before it ever reached the mages. Furthermore… Sabertooth was the only guild that Rogue had ever been a part of.  Much as he’d watched Gajeel and wished to join Phantom Lord when he was younger… well, Phantom Lord hadn’t been too different in that regard and honestly the idea of Gajeel taking any sort of job that didn’t hold at least _some_ potential for violence was pretty laughable.  (The Iron Dragon Slayer is also conspicuously absent at the moment.)

So he’s left holding an object he has only a basic understanding of how to use.

Does he hold it overhand?  Underhand?  Wing it?

In the end, he chooses to mimic Lucy, but he’s starting to come to the conclusion that she doesn’t actually know what she’s doing either.  In fact, judging by the swearing and sounds of paint splattering all around the guild hall, he suspects that none of them do.

He gets into a rhythm with the brush while he works on his section of the emblem.  It’s soothing, he realizes.  Not too different from blade work – lulling him into a sort of meditative state so strong that it takes him a couple minutes to realize that Lucy is talking to him.

“Sorry,” he mutters, embarrassment sweeping through him.  “I wasn’t… I was zoning out.  What was that, again?”

Instead of offense, his honest reply garners mirth from the Celestial Mage.  “That’s okay, it wasn’t important,” she says.  “Just making small talk.”

Upset by his lack of courtesy, Rogue prompts, “How is your training going?”

Lucy’s brush pauses as she shivers in horrified remembrance.  “Capricorn has my schedule locked down tighter than the Council’s prisons.  He could be a drill sergeant if he wanted.  His training is brutal…”  Companionable silence falls between them as they continue to paint.  Then, Lucy adds, “But it’s worth it, in the end.  It’s a lot easier to summon spirits one after another now, and I think my hand-to-hand skills have gotten better.”  A mock sob erupts from her, startling Rogue.  “His diet restrictions are horrible, though!  No milkshakes!  For an entire month!  Can you believe that?!”

Frosch gasps in absolute horror.

“A truly terrible fate,” Rogue intones, not unsympathetic but not yet accustomed to displaying it outright and on cue (sympathy being the easiest way to turn Jiemma’s attention on you next and something altogether avoided until recently and therefore not yet Sabertooth’s strong suit.  It’s still a work in progress).  He doesn’t quite get why she’d need to diet at all, to be honest.  She looks fantastic, honestly speaking.  Having one’s sweets taken away isn’t a fate he wishes on anyone, however.

Lucy, of course, misinterprets his speech.  “Okay, okay, so maybe it’s not as bad as all that, and I could stand to lose a couple pounds.  But I don’t have to like it.”

The Shadow Dragon Slayer stares at Lucy, uncomprehending.  Not sure where he’s gone wrong in the conversation, yet pretty sure that he somehow has.

Clearing her throat, Lucy returns her attention to painting, and Rogue does the same.  It’s silent for a few minutes.  Lucy eventually breaks it.  “So… what have you two been up to since I last saw you?”

Flinging its arms into the air in excitement, Frosch unintentionally sends paint splattering from its paintbrush onto both Rogue and Lucy.  “Rogue and Fro went on lots of jobs!”

“Oh?  What kind of jobs?”

“Guarding!”

Lucy gives the Exceed a fond smile.  “I bet you were an excellent guard, Frosch.”

Pleased by the praise, Frosch’s tail thrashes, dunking into the paint can and splashing around.

“Hey!” someone from the group next to them complains.  “Watch where you’re throwing the paint!”

“Sorry!” Lucy apologizes.  “We’ll be more careful.”

“Fro is sorry…” Frosch adds, dejected and eyes starting to fill with tears.

Rogue turns his crimson glare onto the guild member.  In response, they hurriedly turn away and go back to their work.  The Dragon Slayer lets it go, and gives the Exceed a pat on its head in reassurance.  “Just be a little more careful from now on,” he gently instructs, and Frosch nods in agreement.

A few minutes pass, and Rogue starts to feel lightheaded.  Chalking it up to too little sleep the night before, he ignores it and continues to paint.

With the three of them, it isn’t long before the first coat of paint is fully applied.  Lucy admires their handiwork with a smile.  “Looks great!” she praises.  “Thanks for the help you two!”

“Happy to help,” Rogue replies.

“Fro, too!” the cat exclaims.

Another wave of dizziness passes over Rogue.  He blinks rapidly, trying to force it back.

But a moment later, he’s collapsing onto the guild floor, to the terrified shouts of Lucy and Frosch.

* * *

When Rogue comes to, it’s in bits and pieces.  Bursts of groggy consciousness bright and painful and then dark again, only flare up once more after an indeterminate time frame.  He fights it, trying to pull himself into full awareness.

“Whoa, stay down there, Tiger,” a calming voice urges him.  “You’ll just pass out again if you try to get up too fast.  If you wait there just a moment, I’ll go tell Lucy and Frosch that you’re awake.”

The voice isn’t one he immediately recognizes.  But the promise of Lucy and Frosch is enough to forestall any further attempts on Rogue’s part to rise.

A small weight plops on his chest, lurching him out of another burst of unconsciousness.  “Rogue!” Frosch cries.  “You’re okay!”

“Had us pretty worried for a bit,” comes the teasing voice of Fairy Tail’s Celestial Mage.

Rogue let out a groan and confesses, “My head is pounding.  What happened?”

“Inhaled too many paint fumes.”  Lucy’s face is apologetic.  “Honestly, I should have known better – what with all the Dragon Slayers in my guild.  I’m so sorry.”

A yawn escapes Rogue’s mouth before he can stop it.  “It’s fine,” he mutters after it passes.

Lucy gives him a wry smile.  “I’m guessing that’s not everything, though.”  She knows her pressing has hit the target, when Rogue’s gaze slides away from hers.  “Look…”  Patting his hand, her lips curl into something much softer than before.  “I understand.”  All too well, unfortunately.   “If you don’t want to talk about it right now, that’s perfectly okay.”

Her inability to deal with her nightmares was largely the reason that their friendship has come to be, after all.  And she still hasn’t discussed the issue fully with him.  It’s a hurdle she can’t yet bring herself to even attempt to leap over.  So yes… she understands very well.

“But please…” she continues.  “Please know that someone will _always_ be here to listen to you when you need it.”  Then her grin turns fierce, and she lays her hand on his Exceed partner’s head.  “And that someone is Frosch.  Right Frosch?”

“Yeah!  Fro will always be there for Rogue!”

Unbidden, a laugh bursts from deep in Rogue’s chest, reverberating in Fairy’s Tail’s small infirmary.

If Lucy had previously thought that Rogue’s smile was a gift from the gods before, then _holy shit_ she is not prepared for _this_.  Her heart is threatening to break free of her ribcage at the glorious sound.

A sound which Rogue, in turn, is inevitably picking up with his keen hearing, she’s sure.

It’s infectious, she finds.  And soon she’s echoing the sound, laughs of her own pouring from her mouth and her eyes crinkled in mirth.

Someday, she would like to be able to call herself one of Rogue’s support pillars, she decides.  It will take some time to get there, Lucy realizes.  But she’s willing to wait until he’s ready to take the first steps in that direction.  And in the meantime… she’ll make sure that she’s ready as well to meet him halfway.

In the back of her mind, Lucy begins to wonder if she’s in deep water when it comes to the handsome Dragon Slayer.


End file.
